Background: Obesity has adverse health effects. Dietary reeducation does not seem to offer sustained weight loss. For appropriately selected patients, surgery may be beneficial.
Aim: To evaluate early postoperative metabolic response to surgery in patients submitted to Capella's gastroplasty using two different surgical approaches to the abdominal cavity.
Patients/method: Twenty patients (9 males and 11 females, aged 21 to 53 years) were randomized prior to submission to either one of the surgical access incisions (bilateral arciform or supra-umbilical midline incisions). Blood samples were collected at the beginning and end of the operation, 12 (T-12 h) and 24 hours (T-24 h) postoperatively. Dieresis and synthesis time, blood loss, planimetry of operative field, operative time, hospital stay, hemoglobin, hematocrit, lymphocytes, potassium, albumin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, glucose, pyruvate, lactate and ketone bodies were analyzed.
Results: Dieresis time was significantly decreased when median approach was used. Total operating time, hospital stay, hematocrit, hemoglobin, lymphocyte count, potassium and albumin concentrations were similar in both groups. C-reactive protein (T-12 h), glucose and pyruvate concentrations (T-24 h) increased significantly after completion of surgical procedure. Ketone bodies concentrations were significantly decreased 24 hour following completion of surgical procedure.
Conclusion: Capella's gastroplasty induces metabolic and inflammatory changes in blood parameters. There is no evidence of technical superiority of arciform over midline incisions in this study.