Background

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has gained significant popularity as a preferred bariatric surgical procedure due to technical ease, low complication rates, and safe long-term profile. GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) remains one of the most common undesirable side effects of LSG, with some multi centre papers quoting rates between 20% to 80% at 36 months post LSG. The multi centre analysis of data is made more complex due to differences in surgical technique, bougie size and methods of GERD assessment. Our study aims to determine the incidence of GERD in a single centre where the variability of surgical technique as a confounding factor has been eliminated. This provides a more ‘representative’ risk for GERD post LSG as a primary bariatric procedure. METHODS: Our study is a retrospective cohort study, utilizing data from a group of patients from a single surgeon practice. Eligible patients that underwent LSG from 2014 to 2018, were invited to participate in the study. For the purposes of the study, endoscopic assessment was considered the gold standard. Outcomes were measured based on clinical, endoscopic and histological findings. RESULTS: Of the 23 patients in the study, 39.13% of patients had de novo silent reflux at endoscopy or biopsy an average of 56.3 months from their LSG. Only 2 patients (8.7% incidence) had signs of oesophagitis on endoscopic examination and chronic inflammation on histology, while 7 patients (30.43%) had histological evidence of mild inflammation indicating oesophagitis in the absence of endoscopic evidence.