Delayed Splenic Artery Pseudoaneurysm After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Excerpt

Obesity has doubled worldwide since 1980 with 24% of the population classed as obese or morbidly obese [1]. With this, rates of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy’s (LSG) have increased. LSG is not without potentially serious complications: severe reflux (20%), staple line leaks (1%), formation of gastric fistulas and strictures (0.5%) and early haemorrhage from the staple line (2–3%). The mortality rate of LSG is around 0.4% [2]. Splenic artery pseudoaneurysm (SAP) is a serious surgical entity which carries a high mortality and morbidity [3]. The formation of SAP after LSG has been reported twice in the literature, both of which occur after complicated procedures [4, 5]. The natural history of SAP formation after LSG is unknown; however, it has been proposed that they may form a result of gastric fistula complicating LSG. At our facility, we have seen two patients with SAP rupture years following uncomplicated LSG. …