Gastric Myoelectrical Activity in Morbidly Obese Patients before and 3 Months after Gastric Restrictive Surgery

Background: Morbid obesity is often associated with gastrointestinal motor disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate gastric motility in morbid obesity, using electrogastrography (EGG) before and 3 months after gastric restrictive surgery. Methods: 40 morbidly obese subjects (age 40.6±10.3 years, BMI 46.4±5.7 kg/m2) were studied. VBG and Lap-Band® operations were performed in 19 and 21 patients respectively. The following EGG-parameters were determined, both during fasting (f) and postprandially (pp): dominant frequency (DFf/pp), dominant power (DPf/pp), dominant frequency and power instability coefficient (DFIC and DPIC respectively) and power ratio. Results: In the Lap-Band® group, DFpp, DPpp and DFICpp were significantly higher compared with the preprandial state, both preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. After VBG, DFf and DFICpp were significantly lower and DPICf significantly higher compared with the preoperative state. Furthermore, DFpp and DPpp were significantly higher than the preprandial values. However, in both types of operations, power ratio did not differ significantly between the preoperative and postoperative situation. Furthermore, no clear difference in EGG-parameters between both operations could be observed. Conclusion: After gastric restrictive surgery, no major changes in gastric myoelectrical activity occurred, suggesting that if clinical motility problems occur after bariatric surgery, they are not due to gastric myoelectrical dysfunction.