Closure of Mesenteric Defect Can Lead to a Decrease in Internal Hernias After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass
Nestor de la Cruz-Muñoz, Juan Cabrera, Moises Cuesta, Shawn Hartnett, Rafael Rojas
- Internal hernias are one of the most serious complications that can occur after gastric bypass surgery, happening when part of the intestine slips through small openings created during the procedure, which can cause severe pain and require emergency surgery.
- Dr. de la Cruz-Muñoz led a study showing that closing these openings during the original gastric bypass surgery significantly reduces the chance of developing an internal hernia afterward.
- This finding has had a lasting impact on how bariatric surgeons perform gastric bypass worldwide, with routine closure now considered a standard safety practice by most bariatric surgeons.
- The study was published in Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD), the official journal of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, with Dr. de la Cruz-Muñoz as lead author.
- For patients considering gastric bypass, this research demonstrates that Dr. de la Cruz-Muñoz has specifically studied and published on ways to make the procedure safer.
This study published in Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases analyzed whether routine closure of mesenteric defects during laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass reduces the incidence of internal hernias, one of the most feared complications of the procedure. Internal hernias occur when bowel herniates through the mesenteric defects created during reconstruction, which can lead to bowel obstruction, strangulation, and ischemia. The study compared internal hernia rates between patients who underwent gastric bypass with routine closure of mesenteric defects versus historical controls without closure, and found a significant reduction in internal hernia rates when defects were routinely closed. This finding has had a lasting impact on surgical practice, as routine mesenteric defect closure has become widely adopted by bariatric surgeons worldwide.
de la Cruz-Muñoz N, Cabrera J, Cuesta M, Hartnett S, Rojas R. Closure of Mesenteric Defect Can Lead to a Decrease in Internal Hernias After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. 2011;7(2):176-180. doi:10.1016/j.soard.2010.10.003. PMID: 21126922.
