Post-operative course after conventional or laparoscopic gastroplasty in morbidly obese patients

The post-operative period is particularly dangerous for obese patients. The aim of this study was to compare the immediate post-operative course after either laparoscopic or open gastroplasty. We studied retrospectively 20 an d 14 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic or open adjustable sil icone gastric banding, respectively. After the laparoscopic procedure, pati ents had a significantly shorter stay in the post-anaesthesia care unit (0. 3 +/- 0.4 and 1.1 +/- 1 days), reduced analgesic requirements, a shorter pe riod of intravenous catheter use (2.3 +/- 1.9 and 4.8 +/- 1.4 days), were a ble to walk sooner (1 +/- 0.4 and 2.1 +/- 1.6 days) and had a significantly shorter duration of in-hospital stay (5.4 +/- 2.3 and 15.8 +/- 4.5 days) t han after an open procedure. This report suggests that the use of laparosco py for gastroplasty in morbidly obese patients may significantly improve th e immediate post-operative course.