Short Term Outcomes of Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy for Obesity in Pakistan

Introduction: Obesity has been established as a major risk factor for a number of non-communicable diseases and over the year’s multiple strategies have been directed at addressing this issue including minimally invasive procedures like laparoscopic sleeve Gastrectomy, specifically with an end goal of weight reduction for the morbidly obese. This procedure has become the preferred choice for both patients and physicians over the past few years. Laparoscopic sleeve Gastrectomy was introduced at our center recently; we have carried out a retrospective review of charts to evaluate this procedure short-term outcome at our center in our local population. Methods: A retrospective Cohort study, based on a record review for the treatment outcome of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, was carried out at the department of surgery, Aga khan University Hospital, Karachi over a three-year period since its inception and analyzed in June 2015 using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 17 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria, out of which 12 were females (70.6%). The mean age of study participants was 41.53 years. Only one patient had undergone liposuction previously for weight loss. The most common comorbidities observed were diabetes mellitus (23.6%), hypertension (23.6%) and polycystic ovarian syndrome (17.7%). A statistically significant mean reduction in excess body weight of 28.9±14.90 Kg, CI 21.27-36.59 was observed along with reduction in BMI at 1 year with a mean difference of 11.1±5.38 Kg/m2, CI 21.27-36.60. Results were further analyzed for reduction in percentage excess body weight which showed a mean reduction of 43.6% for the study participants. Co-morbidity improvement was seen as reduction in systolic blood pressures in 9 patients (52%) though these were not found to be significant. Conclusion: Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy shows great potential for the Indian sub-continent population, especially for patients requiring rapid weight loss for better health outcomes, although long term follow up and out comes will determine the effectiveness of the procedure over extended periods and its role as a first line intervention for obesity.