Mesenteric Defect Closure and the Rate of Internal Hernia in Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Internal hernias are a worrying complication from laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRGB), with potential small bowel necrosis and obstruction. An electronic database search of Medline, Embase, and Pubmed was performed. All studies investigating the internal hernia rates in patients whose mesenteric defects were closed vs. not closed during LRGB were analysed. Odds ratios were calculated to assess the difference in internal hernia rate. A total of 14 studies totalling 20,553 patients undergoing LRGB were included. Internal hernia rate (220/12,445 (2%) closure vs. 509/8108 (6%) non-closure) and re-operation for small bowel obstruction (86/5437 (2%) closed vs. 300/3132 (10%) non-closure) were reduced when defects were closed. There was no difference observed when sutures were used to close the defects compared to clips/staples.