Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in a patient with situs inversus totalis: Case report, technical tips and review of the literature()

INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) has proven over the years to be one of the most effective bariatric procedures. It is highly technical, and therefore is mostly performed by bariatric and metabolic surgeons. Although Situs Inversus Totalis (SIT) is a very rare congenital condition, surgeons do occasionally have to operate intra-abdominally on those patients, consequently facing some challenges related to the unusual anatomy. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a rare case of LRYGB for chronic morbid obesity on a 43 year old patient with pre-operative diagnosis of situs inversus totalis without Kartagener’s syndrome, using slight modification from the usual technique based on anatomical correlation without the need to change the surgeon’s position or switching trocar placements as described in previous papers. This could help surgeons in general reduce the potential challenges faced when performing such procedure. CONCLUSION: Situs Inversus Totalis is a rare congenital condition, but surgeons in general do encounter those patients throughout their career. This rare condition should not solely be an indication for an open approach as minimally invasive surgery, whether laparoscopic or robotic, is safe and should still be considered the standard of care approach. Bariatric surgery is one of the most technical intra-abdominal procedures mainly due to the patients’ body habitus, different instrumentations used, and the different anastomoses created. Gastric bypass and bariatric surgery in general can be safely performed on patients with SIT without the need for major adjustment to the surgeon’s position, trocar placement or instruments used.