GASTRIC-MUCOSAL CHANGES FOLLOWING GASTROPLASTY - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY BETWEEN VERTICAL BANDED GASTROPLASTY AND SILASTIC RING VERTICAL GASTROPLASTY

Background: Long-term changes of gastric mucosa following surgery for morbid obesity have never been studied, to the best of our knowledge. As 31 patients in our series presented with various gastro-intestinal complaints following surgery, we used this opportunity to study mucosa l changes. Methods: Thirty-seven gastroscopies were performed on 31 pa tients, 20 patients following Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG) and 1 1 patients following silastic Ring Vertical Gastroplasty (SRVG) with v arious gastroin-testinal complaints. Macroscopic appearance of the gas tric mucosa was examined and biopsies taken from the proximal gastric pouch, the transitional zone and distal stomach. Results: In most pati ents, macroscopic appearance of the proximal and distal pouches was no rmal. Pathological findings were mainly located in the transitional zo ne and were found mainly in the VBG group. Conclusions: This study ind icates that damage to the gastric mucosa is related to the surgical te chnique, and mainly to the strip of mesh used in the VBG patients. Sin ce hyperplasia and metaplasia were among the microscopic findings, a q uestion is raised about the possibility of malignant transformation. W e suggest that routine post-operative gastroscopies be considered, esp ecially following VBG.