Five-year outcomes of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in the treatment of morbid obesity: a retrospective analysis

Background Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is an emerging surgical technique that is gaining popularity among bariatric surgeons owing to its surgical simplicity with encouraging results. Aim A retrospective analysis of 5-year outcomes of LSG performed for treatment of morbid obesity was done regarding weight loss, improvement in comorbidities, complications, and quality of life. Patient and methods LSG was performed for the treatment of morbid obesity between May 2012 and January 2015 on 200 patients who completed 5-year follow-up postoperatively at the Gastrointestinal and Laparoscopic Surgery Unit, General Surgery Department, Tanta University, Egypt. Results The study population included 165 females and 35 males, with a mean age of 30.17±8.90 years. The mean preoperative BMI was 51.76±7.36 kg/m2. The mean operative time was 90.83±29.43 min, and the mean postoperative hospital stay was 3.54 days. Conversion to open surgery occurred in one (0.5%) case. Early complications were encountered in 15 (7.5%) patients. Staple line leakage at the gastroesophageal junction was recorded in two (1%) cases detected by gastrografin study on the fifth postoperative day. Late complications included 20/199 (10.1%) patients. The mean postoperative excess body weight loss percent achieved was 59.47±15.20 at 1 year, 66.45±13.8 at 2 years, 70.09±14.3 at 3 years, 65.72±10.14 at 4 years, and 60.20±11.25 at 5 years, The mean BMI achieved was 35.40±5.81 at 1 year, 31.60±5.41 at 2 years, 28.20±7.25 at 3 years, 30.48±6.71 at 4 years, and 34.20±5.45 at 5 years. Conclusion LSG surgery is an easy, safe, and effective bariatric surgical procedure producing significant weight loss, resolution or improvement of comorbidities, and improvement of quality of life with low perioperative complications.