Victoria Tran, BS
Albany, New York
Victoria Tran, BS1, Michael Kuna, BS1, Leon D. Averbukh, DO2, Tejinder Paul Singh, MD3, Micheal Tadros, MD, MPH, FACG1
1Albany Medical College, Albany, NY; 2University of Connecticut Health, Hartford, CT; 3Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY
Introduction: We present cases of esophageal motility disorders associated with sleeve gastrectomy and identify the role of high-resolution manometry (HRM) in perioperative diagnosis and management.
Case Description/Methods: Case 1: A 44-year old female with history of morbid obesity and gastric reflux presented with persistent symptoms of regurgitation, vomiting, and refractory reflux after undergoing a sleeve gastrectomy two years prior. Upper endoscopy showed slight resistance to endoscope passage at the lower esophageal sphincter and HRM evaluation was consistent with Type II achalasia, a finding confirmed by barium esophagram. The patient underwent a Heller myotomy with conversion into gastric bypass. On follow-up, patient noted no further recurrence of her presenting symptoms.
Case 2: 52-year old female with multiple comorbidities presented with refractory dysphagia. She had undergone sleeve gastrectomy 5 years prior and subsequently developed worsening postprandial chest pain and solid food dysphagia. Outside work up of her dysphagia including multiple endoscopies and an esophagram were negative. On present evaluation, a 13 mm Barium pill traversed the esophagus without delay, and HRM showed a hypercontractile esophagus with high normal integrated relaxation pressure. The patient was started on antispasmodic therapy with symptom improvement.
Discussion: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is a bariatric surgical procedure for rapid weight loss in those classified as morbidly obese. The procedure leaves patients with a narrow tubular stomach roughly the diameter of the esophagus. Post operatively, patients have been noted to experience dysphagia, odynophagia, and most commonly (19.7% of cases) reflux. In our cases, patients experienced severe esophageal dysmotility which may have been caused by post-operative alterations of gastric anatomy and pressures. The mechanism behind post-operative motility disorders is unclear, and some studies have suggested that the procedure may unmask previously latent or subclinical disorders rather than induce them. We believe that HRM should be used as part of high value care in evaluating gastric sleeve patients with esophageal symptoms, especially before surgical revisions.
Braghetto, I., et al. OBES SURG (2010) 20: 357. https://doi-org.elibrary.amc.edu/10.1007/s11695-009-0040-3
Citation: Victoria Tran, BS; Michael Kuna, BS; Leon D. Averbukh, DO; Tejinder Paul Singh, MD; Micheal Tadros, MD, MPH, FACG. P1212 - IT’S NOT ALWAYS REFLUX: THE ROLE OF HIGH-RESOLUTION MANOMETRY IN MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY. Program No. P1212. ACG 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. San Antonio, Texas: American College of Gastroenterology.