Complications Requiring Hospital Management after Bariatric Surgery.

BACKGROUND The actual gold standard technique for obesity treatment is the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. However, complications may occur and the surgeon must be prepared for them. AIM To evaluate retrospectively the complications occurrence and associated factors in patients who underwent bariatric surgery. METHODS In this study, 469 medical charts were considered, from patients and from data collected during outpatient consultations. The variables considered were gender, age, height, pre-operatory BMI, pre-operatory weight, pre-operatory comorbidities, time of hospital stay, postoperative complications that demanded re-admission to the hospital and the time elapsed between the procedure and the complication. The patients' follow up was, at least, one year. RESULTS The incidence of postoperative complications that demanded a hospital care was 24,09%. The main comorbidity presented in this sample was hepatic steatosis. The comorbidity that was associated with the postoperative period was type 2 diabetes. There was a tendency for the female gender be related to the complications. The cholecystectomy was the most frequent complication. Complications occurred during the first year in 57,35%. CONCLUSION The most frequent complication was the need to perform a cholecystectomy, where the most frequent comorbidity was hepatic steatosis. Over half the complications occurred during the first year postoperatively. Type 2 diabetes was associated with the occurrence of postoperative complications; women had the highest incidence; body mass index was not associated with the occurrence of complications.