Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with loop bipartition: A novel metabolic operation in treating obese type II diabetes mellitus()

INTRODUCTION: We report the first case of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with loop bipartition (a modified form of Santoro's operation) in the treatment of type II diabetes mellitus associated with obesity. PRESENTATION OF CASE: A 46-year-old gentleman (baseline BMI 32.9; BW 98.5 kg) with 7-year history of type II diabetes mellitus (DM) underwent the procedure in Hong Kong. The control of DM was poor even with intensive medical therapy before the operation. Standard laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (SG) was performed and a loop gastroileostomy was fashioned at the antrum 250 cm from the ilececal valve without division of the 1st part of duodenum after SG. The resultant gastric tube has two outlets, one to the first part of duodenum and the other to the ileum with preferential passage of food through the gastroileostomy as shown on subsequent contrast study. The patient's recovery was uneventful. The excess BMI loss was 97% with complete normalization of all metabolic parameters at 1-year follow-up. DISCUSSION: This new surgical procedure (sleeve gastrectomy with loop bipartition: SG+LB) was evolved and derived from the combined concepts of sleeve gastrectomy with transit bipartition (SG+TB), single anastomosis duodenal-ileostomy (SADI), mini-gastric bypass (MGB) and duodenal-jejunal bypass (DJB) with less nutritional and surgical complications. CONCLUSION: Sleeve gastrectomy with loop bipartition may be a very effective and simple operation to treat uncontrolled DM associated with obesity with a lot of apparent advantages over most current metabolic procedures available at the moment.