Changes in laboratory findings and early postoperative radiological evaluations following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy

INTRODUCTION: Obesity is an important public health problem with its related comorbidities associated with chronic inflammation. Secretion and continued release of inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 are caused by hypertrophic growth of adipose tissue and lead to chronic inflammation. In this study, we aimed to retrospectively evaluate the changes in the hematological and biochemical profiles and also to review complications established in post-operative radiological imaging studies following laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).
METHODS: The changes in the obesity-related biochemical and hematological parameters 6 months after LSG were retrospectively analyzed in 143 consecutive patients older than 18-year of age who underwent LSG. In addition, the findings of abdominal ultrasonography (US) examinations in all patients and computed tomography findings in patients who had been performed were retrospectively reviewed in terms of post-operative complications.
RESULTS: The decrease in body mass index (BMI) compared to the pre-operative BMI was statistically significant. Both inflammatory markers and glucose-lipid profiles showed improvement with a positive correlation parallel to the change in BMI. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was found to be decreased significantly. However, no significant change was observed in PLR 6 months after LSG. Newly developed gallstones appeared in six of the patients when compared with their pre-operative abdominal US reports. None of the patients had gastric leak, perigastric collection, or hemorrhage.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: LSG is one of the most effective bariatric surgery methods in the treatment of obesity. We showed improvements in inflammatory markers in addition to glucose and lipid profiles with a positive correlation parallel to the changes in BMI.