Endoscopic balloon dilation for treatment of sleeve gastrectomy stenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Gastric stenosis is a rare but potentially serious adverse event after sleeve gastrectomy. Despite current suboptimal treatments, endoscopic balloon dilatation (EBD) has emerged as a safe and efficacious approach. The purpose of this study is to assess the overall success of EBD for sleeve gastrectomy stenosis (SGS) as first-line therapy.

METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Database were searched from inception to July 2018. The primary outcome was defined as overall success rate of clinical resolution of SGS obstructive symptoms with EBD, expressed as pooled event rate and 95% confidence interval (CI). The secondary predefined outcomes include EBD success rates for SGS in the proximal (cardia) location or mid-distal location (antrum/incisura), in early SGS (up to 3 months after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy), and late SGS (3 months or longer after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy) and success rate of cases requiring stents or salvage surgery.

RESULTS: Eighteen studies encompassing 426 patients were analyzed. The average age and body mass index were 41.7 years and 40.1 kg/m2 , respectively, and the average number of dilations for all cases was 1.8 per person. Overall EBD success rate was 76% (95% CI, .67-.86). EBD success rate in the proximal SGS was 90% (95% CI, 63%-98%), distal SGS was 70% (95% CI, 47%-86%), early SGS within 3 months was 59% (95% CI, 34%-79%), and late SGS after 3 months was 61% (95% CI, 41%-78%). Seventeen percent of patients underwent secondary salvage surgery, with a success rate of 91% (95% CI, 80%-96%).

CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic balloon dilation appears to be a safe and effective minimally invasive alternative to surgical revision and should be used as first-line therapy for SGS.