Effect of sleeve gastrectomy on distal esophagus at 5 and 10 years

Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is a primary surgical intervention for obesity management. However, several longitudinal studies have documented the emergence of long-term esophageal consequences, notably gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and its associated complications. This study aimed to assess the occurrence of esophageal complications, including esophagitis and Barret’s esophagus (BE), 5 and 10 years after SG, in one medical center.

Two cohorts of consecutive patients who underwent SG were studied: patients who underwent a systematic upper gastro-intestinal endoscopy (UGIE) at five years or conversion to RYGB < 5 years (cohort n°1, n = 219), and patients who underwent UGIE at 10 years or converted to RYGB > 5 years (cohort n°2, n = 72). Patients with missing UGIE before or after SG were excluded.

In the cohort n°1, 62.7% of the patients had clinical GERD at the 5-years follow-up (vs. 21.8 before SG, p < 0.0001), 27.4% had esophagitis (vs. 14.2% before SG, p = 0.0006), and 8.3% had BE (vs. 1.8% before SG, p = 0.002) with metaplasia in 1.8%. De novo esophagitis and BE accounted for 19.6% and 7.8%, respectively. In the cohort n°2, at 10 years, 61.5% had clinical GERD (vs.12.5 before SG, p < 0.0001), 23.6% had esophagitis (vs. 9.7% before SG, p = 0.025) including 20.8% de novo, and 8.3% had de novo BE, with metaplasia in 5.6%. De novo esophagitis accounted for 20.8%. One patient developed esophageal adenocarcinoma 10 years after SG. Pre-operative esophagitis was significantly associated with BE on UGIE at 5 or 10 years, while active smoking and preoperative esophagitis were risk factors for esophagitis.

This study highlights a significant increase in esophageal complications 5 and 10 years after SG. Pre-operative esophagitis should be considered when choosing a surgical technique for obesity management.