Effect of Intraoperative Blood Pressure Regulation on Postoperative Hemorrhage After Bariatric Surgery

With a rising number of bariatric procedures, the absolute number of postoperative complications is increasing, too. Postoperative bleeding, particularly along the staple line, is a recognized challenge. Numerous strategies including reinforcement of the staple line (SLR) have been proposed to improve bleeding rates, but no single technique has shown superiority over the others. In our bariatric center, we have implemented intraoperative blood pressure regulation alone, without SLR, to reduce hemorrhagic complications postoperatively.

This retrospective observational analysis compares the incidence of postoperative bleeding in two groups of consecutive patients (total n = 438 patients), one with and one without intraoperative blood pressure elevation to 150 mmHg systolic without the additional use of staple line reinforcement. This intervention was integrated into our standard bariatric surgical procedure, no randomization or matching was conducted. Significant postoperative bleeding was defined as drop of hemoglobin of more than 2.5 mg/dl in 48 h and one of the following symptoms: lactate ≥ 2 mmol/L, bloody drainage, quantity of drainage more than 200 ml and/or radiological signs.

Defined postoperative bleeding occurred in 33 (7.5%) patients. We observed a decrease in bleeding rates from 10% to 5% (n = 22 vs. n = 11) after introducing intraoperative blood pressure increase (p = 0.034). The rate of revisional surgery for bleeding also decreased from 2.7% to 0.5% (n = 6 vs. n = 1). In multivariate analysis, the intervention with blood pressure elevation showed a significant decrease on bleeding rates (p = 0.038).

The use of increased intraoperative blood pressure alone, without staple line reinforcement, appears to be an effective and suitable method for reducing post-bariatric hemorrhagic complications.