Twenty-five years of duodenal switch. How to switch to the duodenal switch

Background: the duodenal switch (DS) is a procedure that combines a vertical gastrectomy (VG) plus a biliopancreatic diversion (BPD). Objectives: to report our experience in 950 consecutive DS patients with morbid obesity (MO) performed from 1994 to 2011, with 27 years of follow-up. Environment: mix of teaching and private institution in a regional hospital in Spain. Methods: retrospective review of 950 consecutive morbidly obese patients treated with DS surgery. Results: five hundred and eighteen open DS (ODS) and 432 laparoscopic DS (LDS) were performed. Operative mortality was 0.84% (1.38% in ODS and 0.38% in LDS); 4.84% had one leak, two had liver failure (0.2%) and malnutrition was present in 3.1%. At five years, the body mass index (BMI) percentage of lost overweight (%EWL) was 80% and the percentage of expected BMI loss was more than 100%. Conclusions: the DS is the most aggressive bariatric technique but with the best long-term weight loss. Operative complications and long-term follow-up guidelines are described.