Given the increasing prevalence of diabetes and obesity worldwide, the deleterious effects of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are becoming a growing challenge for public health. NAFLD is the most common chronic liver disease in the Western world. NAFLD is closely associated with metabolic disorders, including central obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, hyperglycaemia and persistent abnormalities of liver function tests.In general NAFLD is a common denominer for a broad spectrum of damage to the liver, which can be due to hepatocyte injury, inflammatory processes and fibrosis. This is normally seen on liver biopsy and can range from milder forms (steatosis) to the more severe forms (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), advanced fibrosis, cirrhosis and liver failure). In these patients, advanced fibrosis is the major predictor of morbidity and liver-related mortality, and an accurate diagnosis of NASH and NAFLD is mandatory. Histologic evaluation with liver biopsy remains the gold standard to diagnose NAFLD. Diagnosis of NAFLD is defined as presence of hepatic steatosis, ballooning and lobular inflammation with or without fibrosis. Weight loss, dietary modification, and the treatment of underlying metabolic syndrome remain the mainstays of therapy once the diagnosis is established. Dietary recommendations and lifestyle interventions, weight loss, and the treatment of underlying metabolic syndrome remain the mainstays of therapy once the diagnosis is established with promising results but are difficult to maintain. Pioglitazone and vitamin E are recommended by guidelines in selected patients. This review gives an overview of NAFLD and its treatment options.

Research from JAMA Surgery — Portomesenteric Thrombosis Following Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery — Incidence, Patterns of Clinical Presentation, and Etiology in a Bariatric Patient Population

Background Various techniques of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass have been described. We completely standardized this procedure to minimize its sometimes substantial morbidity and mortality. This study describes our experience with the standardized fully stapled laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (FS-LRYGB) and its influence on the 30-day morbidity and mortality. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 2,645 patients who underwent FS-LRYGB from May 2004 to August 2008. Operative time, hospital stay and readmission, re-operation, and 30-day morbidity/mortality rates were then calculated. The 30-day follow-up data were complete for 2,606 patients (98.5%). Results There were 539 male and 2,067 female patients. Mean age was 39.2 years (range 14–73), mean BMI 41.44 kg/m² (range, 23–75.5). The mean hospital stay was 3.35 days (range 2–71). Mean total operative time was 63 min (range 35–150). One patient died of pneumonia within 30 days of surgery (0.04%). One hundred and fifty one (5.8%) patients had postoperative complications as follows: gastrointestinal hemorrhage (n = 89, 3.42%), intestinal obstruction (n = 9, 0.35%), anastomotic leak (n = 5, 0.19%) and others (n = 47, 1.80%). In 66 patients, the bleeding resolved without any surgical re-intervention. One hemorrhage resulted in hypovolemic shock with subsequent renal and hepatic failure. Conclusion The systematic approach and the full standardization of the FS-LRYGB procedure contribute highly to the very low mortality and the low morbidity rates in our institution. Gastrointestinal bleeding appears to be the commonest complication, but is self-limiting in the majority of cases. Our approach also significantly reduces operative time and turns the technically demanding laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure into an easy reproducible operation, effective for training.

One Anastomosis/Mini Gastric Bypass (OAGB-MGB) is rapidly gaining popularity and is now the third common bariatric procedure performed in the world. The aim of this review is to look at the role of this operation as a revisional bariatric surgery (RBS). Literature review was performed following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) and the AMSTAR (Assessing the methodological quality of systematic reviews) guidelines. Total 17 studies were eligible. This review reports cumulative results of 1075 revisional OAGB-MGB procedures. Primary procedures included gastric banding (LAGB), Sleeve gastrectomy (SG), vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) and gastric plication. The mean age was 43.1 years and female to male ratio was 3.04: 1. The body mass index (BMI) at primary procedure was 47.05 kg/m². The mean BMI at revisional surgery was 41.6 kg/m² (range 28-70.8). The mean time between the primary and the secondary operation was 46.5 months (3-264). The mean follow-up was 2.44 years (6-60 months). The mean operative time was 119.3 min. The mean length of hospital stay was 4.01 days (2-28). The median limb length was 200 cm (range 150-250 cm). Leak rate was 1.54%. Marginal ulcer rate was 2.44%. Anemia rate was 1.9%. Mortality was 0.3%. The excess weight loss (%EWL) at 1 year and 2 years was 65.2% and 68.5% respectively. We conclude that there is evidence to consider OAGB-MGB as a safe and effective choice for RBS. Randomised studies with long term follow-up are suggested for the future.