Barbed unidirectional V-Loc 180 suture in laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: a study comparing unidirectional barbed monofilament and multifilament absorbable suture

This study aimed primarily to evaluate the safety of digestive running suture (in gastrojejunal and antecolic jejunojejunal anastomosis closure) using unidirectional absorbable barbed suture (V-Loc 180) in laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) and secondarily to assess the efficacy of V-Loc 180 in reducing operative time.

A prospective cohort study of 315 consecutive patients who underwent LRYGB was performed between October 2009 and October 2012 using an identical procedure technique. For the first 76 patients, a multifilament absorbable suture was used to assess the gastrojejunal anastomosis and the antecolic jejunal suture. For the following 239 patients, a unidirectional barbed monofilament suture was used. Data including operative time, time required for gastric pouch creation, time spent in both anastomoses constructions, conversion rate, and complications were prospectively recorded.

The postoperative complications did not differ significantly between the two groups. Early complications were observed for 1 patient (1.3 %) in the multifilament group and for 14 patients (5.8 %) in the barbed procedure group (p > 0.05). Late complications were observed for 1 patient (1.3 %) in the multifilament group and for 5 patients (2 %) in the barbed procedure group (p > 0.05). A shortened operative time was achieved in the barbed suture group. The mean operative time was 74.3 ± 15.3 min in the Vicryl group versus 62.7 ± 15.5 min in the V-Loc group (p < 0.05). The mean operative time required to fashion the gastrojejunal anastomosis was 21.3 ± 6.3 min in the Vicryl group versus 17.4 ± 5.1 min in the V-Loc group (p < 0.05). The mean operative time required to fashion the jejunojejunal anastomosis was 21.4 ± 4.9 min in the Vicryl group versus 15.2 ± 5.5 min in the V-Loc group (p < 0.05).

The authors’ experience has demonstrated that the use of interlocked V-Loc suture during LRYGB anastomosis appears to be safe and efficient. The findings show a shortened total operative time in terms of single gastrojejunal or jejunojejunal anastomosis time. No statistically significant differences in early or late postoperative complications were observed between the V-Loc and multifilament absorbable suture patients.