Postoperative Complications after Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass in Bariatric Surgery

The laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery involves some characteristic surgical complications besides the general risks associated with bariatric surgery. The overall risk could be effectively decreased due to the minimal invasive technique, though. The mortality is 0-0.5% and the risk of morbidity varies between 6 and 30%. However, the specific circumstances of morbidly obese patients make diagnostics difficult. Especially septic complications of any kind represent a high risk of mortality. Therefore, maximal safety und prevention are very important issues to consider. The most common causes of death are pulmonary embolism and insufficiency of anastomosis. Due to the laparoscopic approach complications of wound healing are scarcely observed. The most frequent complications result from pulmonary and cardiac dysfunctions. Surgical complications mainly result from bleedings, problems with the anastomoses and sutures as well as from the small intestine showing any kind of passage malfunction. Overall, the surgical and bariatric results reveal that early postoperative and long-term complications remain within tolerable limits when compared to consequences of a lack of surgery.