Laparoscopic mini-gastric bypass: an effective option for the treatment of morbid obesity

Objective: To evaluate laparoscopic Mini-Gastric Bypass in the treatment of morbid obesity. Patients and Methods: Thirty patients with a mean BMI of 41.8 +/- 4.5 Kg/M2 under-went a laparoscopic Mini-Gastric Bypass between March 2005 and February 2006. A laparoscopic approach with five trocar incisions was used to create a long narrow gastric tube; this was then anastomosed ante-cobcally to a loop of jejunum 200 cm. distal to the figament of Treitz Peri-operative and short-term follow-up results up to May 2006 are reported. Results: Conversion to open mini-gastric bypass was necessary in one case (3.3%). Mean operative time was 135 45 minutes. There were no deaths. There were no anastomotic leakages. Two patients developed obstruction at the gastrojejunostomy requiring laparoscopic correction in one case and accounting for an overall morbidity of 6.6%. Mean hospital stay was 3 +/- 0.25 days. One patient developed marginal ulcer which resolved with medical treatment; no patients developed symptoms of reflux esophagitis. Mean loss of excess weight was 67.6% at one year and was accompanied by resolution of obesity-associated medical illness in 85% of patients. Conclusion Laparoscopic Mini-Gastric Bypass is a technically simple, safe, and effective procedure in the treatment of morbid obesity and its associated medical illnesses. Moreover, the procedure is easily reversible laparoscopically when post-operative complication occurs.