“I think what we have learned from these long-term follow-up results is that GERD assessment should be a part of the preoperative assessment, and for patients who have preoperative GERD symptoms and GERD-related endoscopic findings (e.g., hiatal hernia), gastric bypass would be a more optimal procedure choice, if there are no contraindications for it,” she said.
Patient discussions should also cover “long-term symptoms, for example, abdominal pain after RYGB,” she added.
“I am looking forward to our future 20-year follow-up results,” Dr. Salminen said, “which will shed more light on this topic of postoperative [endoscopic] surveillance.
In the meantime, “preoperative gastroscopy is necessary and beneficial, at least when considering sleeve gastrectomy,” she said.
The SLEEVEPASS trial was supported by the Mary and Georg C. Ehrnrooth Foundation, the Government Research Foundation (in a grant awarded to Turku University Hospital), the Orion Research Foundation, the Paulo Foundation, and the Gastroenterological Research Foundation. Dr. Salminen reported receiving grants from the Government Research Foundation awarded to Turku University Hospital and the Mary and Georg C. Ehrnrooth Foundation. Another coauthor received grants from the Orion Research Foundation, the Paulo Foundation, and the Gastroenterological Research Foundation during the study. No other disclosures were reported.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.