Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Symptoms after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Retrospective Study

(1) Background: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is widely performed in bariatric surgery. However, the prevalence and risk factors of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms after LSG remain unclear to date. This study aimed to identify risk factors of GERD after LSG. (2) Methods: We conducted a retrospective study at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and reviewed 296 patients who underwent LSG from 2016 to 2019. A total of 143 patients who underwent preoperative esophagogastroduodenoscopy and completed the 12-month postoperative follow-up were enrolled. Patients' demographic data, comorbidities, and postoperative weight loss results were recorded for analysis. The GerdQ questionnaire was used to assess GERD after LSG. (3) Results: There were eight surgical complications (5.6%) among the 143 studied patients (median age, 36 years; 56 (39.2%) men; median body weight 105.5 kg; median body mass index [BMI], 38.5 kg/m(2)). Twenty-three patients (16.1%) developed de novo GERD symptoms. GERD was significantly associated with older age (p = 0.022) and lower BMI (<35 kg/m(2), p = 0.028). In multiple logistic regression analysis, age and BMI were significantly associated with GERD. (4) Conclusions: LSG is a safe and effective weight loss surgery. In our study, it led to 16.1% of de novo GERD symptoms, which were significantly related to older age and lower BMI (<35 kg/m(2)).