FOOD INTOLERANCES AND ASSOCIATED SYMPTOMS IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING FOBI-CAPELLA TECHNIQUE WITHOUT GASTRIC RING

BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery is considered the only effective method to treat refractory obesity, and especially for those in which clinical treatment was not successful. However, the appearance of food intolerances and clinical manifestations are quite common. AIM: To identify food intolerances and associated them to symptoms in patients undergoing Fobi-Capella technique without gastric ring. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of adult patients who had more than one year after surgery. Demographic, anthropometric, weight and preoperative height data were investigated. Nutritional status was classified according to the criteria established by the World Health Organization. It was considered food intolerance the presence of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloating after eating a particular food. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 61 patients who attended the nutritional consultation of which 26 (42.6%) had food intolerance, mostly related to red meat (n=12; 34.3%) during the first six months of operation; there was a significant difference between the periods between 0 and 6 months, and 7 to 12 (p=0.02). Among the symptoms reported by patients, nausea was the most recurrent until the 6(th) month, but without significant differences between the two periods (p=0.06). CONCLUSIONS: The Fobi-Capella procedure without gastric ring promoted high frequency of intolerance to meat in general, especially for the red, chicken and fish, on this sequence; nausea was the most frequent symptom. These data suggest the need for adequate nutritional monitoring throughout the postoperative period.