Open AccessIatrogenic injury of the intrathoracic oesophagus with bougie during sleeve gastrectomy
Author(s) -
Franco Signorini,
Verónica Gorodner,
Marcos Marani,
Germán Viscido,
Federico Moser
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of minimal access surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 0972-9941
pISSN - 1998-3921
DOI - 10.4103/jmas.jmas_21_17
Subject(s) - medicine , sleeve gastrectomy , surgery , perforation , complication , general surgery , gastrectomy , gastric bypass , obesity , weight loss , cancer , materials science , punching , metallurgy
One of the most popular procedures amongst obesity surgery is the sleeve gastrectomy. There is international consensus regarding the usage of bougie for sleeve gastrectomy calibration. Nevertheless, there is a dissociation between the number of oesophageal perforations reported for any other oesophageal/gastric operation that requires bougie (e.g., anti-reflux surgery, incidence 1.2%) and bariatric surgery, where this complication seems to be almost a myth. Interestingly enough, the number of bariatric procedures is much higher than any other oesophageal/gastric surgery. This suggests that oesophageal perforations in obesity surgery are underreported. We report a case of injury of the intrathoracic oesophagus with bougie that occurred during a sleeve gastrectomy. In the infrequent case that the perforation is diagnosed during surgery, primary repair during the same intervention is highly recommended. Videothoracoscopy might be an effective option in case of necessity. We were able to complete the sleeve gastrectomy without increasing morbidity.