Is gastroscopy necessary before bariatric surgery?

Obesity is the abnormal accumulation of fat or adipose tissue in the body. It has become a serious health problem in the world in the last 50 years and is considered a pandemic. Body mass index is a widely used classification. Thus, obese individuals can be easily classified and standardized. Obesity is the second cause of preventable deaths after smoking. Obesity significantly increases mortality and morbidity. We thought of preparing a publication about routine procedures for the preoperative evaluation of obesity. The question that we asked as bariatric and metabolic surgeons but which was not exactly answered in the literature was “Is esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) necessary before bariatric surgery?” We found different answers in our literature review. The European Association of Endoscopic Surgery guidelines recommend EGD for all bariatric procedures. They strongly recommend it for Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). As a result of a recent study by the members of the British Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Society, preoperative EGD is routinely recommended for patients undergoing sleeve gastrectomy, even if they are asymptomatic, but not recommended for RYGB. It is recommended for symptomatic patients scheduled for RYGB. According to the International Sleeve Gastrectomy Expert Panel Consensus Statement, preoperative EGD is definitely recommended for patients scheduled for sleeve gastrectomy, but its routine use for RYGB is controversial. However, a different view is that the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy recommends endoscopy only for symptomatic patients scheduled for bariatric surgery. In the literature, the primary goal of EGD recommended for sleeve gastrectomy has been interpreted as determining esophagitis caused by gastroesophageal reflux. In the light of the literature, it is stated that this procedure is not necessary in America, while it is routinely recommended in the European continent. Considering medicolegal cases that may occur in the future, we are in favor of performing EGD before bariatric surgery. In conclusion, EGD before bariatric surgery is insurance for both patients and physicians. There is a need for larger and prospective studies to reach more precise conclusions on the subject.