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Review
. 2024 Jul 30;13(15):4456.
doi: 10.3390/jcm13154456.

Rare Complications Following Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Amanda Belluzzi  1   2 , Jack W Sample  1 , Katie Marrero  3 , Daniel Tomey  4 , Suraj Puvvadi  5 , Ishna Sharma  6 , Omar M Ghanem  1   7
Affiliations
Review

Rare Complications Following Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Amanda Belluzzi et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is the most effective and durable therapeutic intervention for patients with obesity. In recent years, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has become the most commonly performed primary MBS procedure owing to its technical feasibility and excellent short-term outcomes. Despite these favorable results and perceived advantages, SG is associated with several unique complications. Complications such as a postoperative leak or bleeding have been more commonly observed and reported than others, and their management approaches are well described. However, other complications following SG are far less familiar to surgeons, which may delay recognition and result in poor patient outcomes. Of these complications, we describe splenic injuries; esophageal perforation; staple line malformations; stapling of intraluminal devices; phytobezoar formation; gastro-colic, gastro-pleural and gastro-bronchial fistula; pancreatic leak; and portomesenteric venous thrombosis. It is paramount for surgeons to be aware of these underreported issues and have the resources to learn how to recognize and manage them when they arise. This review aims to describe rare (i.e., reported incidence <1%) and underdescribed complications after SG, focusing on causes, clinical presentation, prevention strategies, and management.

Keywords: bariatric surgery; rare complications; sleeve gastrectomy.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors do not have conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Staple line malformation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Inadvertent stapling of the orogastric tube.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Chest computed tomography (CT) scan showing obliteration of the left lung space in a patient with gastro-pleural (GP) fistula.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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