Hand-sewn gastrojejunostomy using knotless unidirectional barbed absorbable suture during laparoscopic gastric bypass

This report describes the authors’ institutional experience using knotless unidirectional barbed absorbable suture to close the common enterotomy of the jejunojejunostomy (JJ) and to create a hand-sewn gastrojejunostomy (GJ) during laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

A retrospective review of morbidly obese patients who underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass with a hand-sewn GJ between April 2011 and 2012 was performed. The authors’ traditional technique (TT) consisted of using standard monofilament absorbable suture to close the common JJ enterotomy in a single running layer and to create the GJ with a two-layer anastomosis. A novel technique (NT) was introduced using knotless unidirectional barbed monofilament absorbable suture to perform both tasks. A comparison between these two techniques was performed.

In this study, 84 patients with a mean body mass index of 41.7 ± 4.7 kg/m² underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass using a hand-sewn technique. For the 84 patients, 75 primary procedures (89.3 %) and 9 revisional procedures (10.7 %) were performed. In 38 procedures (45.2 %), the TT was used, whereas 46 cases (54.8 %) were managed using the NT. For the primary procedures, the average operating room times were slightly faster in the NT group (178.9 ± 44.4 vs 154.2 ± 74.7 min; p = 0.08). The average hospital length of stay was comparable between the two groups (2.3 ± 0.7 vs 2.6 ± 1.4 days; p = 0.25). A 30-day follow-up assessment was obtained for all 84 patients, without a significant difference in the overall complication rate between the two groups (TT 18.4 % vs NT 13 %; p = 0.77). No complications were secondary to the JJ closure or gastrojejunostomy. The complications included bleeding (n = 1), small bowel obstruction (n = 1), dehydration (n = 2), esophagitis (n = 1), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (n = 1). No anastomotic leak or stenosis occurred in either group. The mean percentage of excess weight loss at 1 month was 21.3 % ± 5.4 %, without a significant difference between the two groups.

In the study cohort, the use of knotless unidirectional barbed suture instead of traditional monofilament absorbable suture had similar 30-day outcomes and appears to be a feasible option for laparoscopic bowel closure and anastomosis creation.