Saturday, January 25, 2014

Leak after a Sleeve gastrectomy


Can a stent be placed for a gastric leak after a sleeve gastrectomy?

Stents are used but usually do not work well. If there is a large leak, the hole is often not sealed well with stents. . Plus, insertion of a stent to close the leak is prohibitively expensive. Once a stent is inserted, it cannot be removed. The stent has metal or plastic pins which embed in to the stomach wall, and is best left alone. I doubt any surgeon would be foolish enough to remove a stent. Surgery to close the leak is the gold standard but complications are common. Most patients are septic after a gastric leak and often develop multiorgan failure.

No comments:

Post a Comment