Intraoperative Patterns of Gastric Microperfusion During Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Background Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has become a very popular surgical treatment for the treatment of morbidly obese patients. Staple line leaks are the major cause of severe morbidity. Reasons for leaks might be hyperpressure (mechanical theory) or hypoperfusion (vascular theory) of the narrow gastric tube. This study assessed microperfusion patterns of the stomach during LSG using visible light spectroscopy (VLS), a method to measure tissue oxygenation (saturated O2 (StO2)). Methods The study population comprised 20 patients undergoing LSG. Real-time intraoperative microperfusion measurements were performed at nine different ventral stomach localizations in the antrum, body, and fundus at the beginning of the operation, after mobilization of the greater curve and after sleeve resection. Results There were 17 women and 3 men, mean age 42.9 years, mean BMI 45.6 kg/m(2). There were no staple line leaks. StO2% values dropped substantially in the most cephalad area of measurement at the greater curve after mobilization (56 versus 49 %) and after resection (60 versus 49.5 %). The reduction in StO2 in the most cephalad area from before mobilization of the stomach to resection was 9.5 % (p < 0.01). Conclusion Assessment of microperfusion patterns of the stomach during LSG using VLS is safe and efficacious to use allowing an accurate measurement of StO2%. The upper third of the stomach is the zone of reduced microperfusion with a significant drop of tissue oxygenation after sleeve resection of the stomach.