Laparoscopic Revision Gastric Bypass Surgery for Chronic Marginal Ulcers: a 10 Year Experience

The epidemic of overweight and obesity in the United States of America along with its comorbidities continues to expand. Bariatric surgery has demonstrated to be the most effective and sustained method to control severe obesity and its comorbidities. For instance, type 2 diabetes mellitus was completely resolved in 76.8%, systemic arterial hypertension was resolved in 61.7%, dyslipidemia improved in 70% and obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome was resolved in 85.7%. Furthermore, bariatric surgery significantly increases life expectancy (89%) and decreases overall mortality (30-40%), particularly deaths from diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Lastly, preliminary evidence about downstream savings associated with bariatric surgery offset the initial costs in 2 to 4 years.

Since 1998, there has been a substantially progressive increase in bariatric surgery. In 2005, the ASMBS reported that 81% of bariatric procedures were approached laparoscopically and in 2007, 205,000 people had bariatric surgery in the United States from which approximately 80% of these were Gastric Bypass. Moreover, there is a mismatch between eligibility and receipt of bariatric surgery with just less than 1% of the eligible population being treated for morbid obesity through bariatric surgery. Along with the increasing number of elective primary weight loss procedures, up to 20% of post RYGB patients cannot sustain their weight loss beyond 2 to 3 years after the primary bariatric procedure. Thus, revisional surgery for poor weight loss and re-operations for technical or mechanical complications will rise in a parallel manner.

A common late complication after gastric bypass surgery is marginal ulceration, an ulcer at the margins of the gastrojejunostomy on the jejunal side. Its incidence after RYGB ranges from as low as 0.6 to as high as 16%. After 1,040 laparoscopic RYGB surgeries, the incidence rate, in our hands, is 1.4% and mainly related to NSAID´s use. In observational cohort studies, the presence of specific technical factors - staple-line dehiscence or gastro-gastric fistula, enlarged pouch, foreign material and local ischemia - and environmental factors - tobacco, NSAID´s, alcohol consumption, and H pylori infection among others - have been associated with marginal ulceration however the exact etiopathogenesis has not been completely elucidated.

Similar to peptic ulcer disease (PUD), most marginal ulcers respond to medical therapy, specifically sucralfate and acid-lowering medication. In contrast, when perforation, obstruction, penetration, bleeding and/or intractability presents, complex or complicated ulcer disease, warrants surgical intervention.

The intestinal mucosa is not typically exposed to gastric acid, which is neutralized by the alkaline biliopancreatic secretions. The jejunal mucosa has no natural barriers; when exposed to gastric acid, it ulcerates easily. Capella & Capella demonstrated that transecting the gastric segments significantly reduce staple-line dehiscence; this is the so-called divided gastric bypass. In the retrospective analysis of their consecutive series, the incidence for gastro-gastric fistula (GGF) formation after undivided gastric bypass (GBP) was 23%, after a partially divided GBP was 19%, after a completely divided GBP was 2% and after complete transection with interposition of the jejunal limb was 0% (p <0.001). MacLean et al confirmed that divided primary gastric bypass decreases GGF formation (29% vs. 3%). Also, patients who developed marginal ulcers had a lower pH as well as a greater time with a pH less than 2 correlating 100% with the presence of GGF; closure of the GGF increased the pH in the pouch with subsequent healing of the marginal ulcer.