Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2017; 23(13): 2269-2275
Published online Apr 7, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i13.2269
Gastroesophageal reflux disease and morbid obesity: To sleeve or not to sleeve?
Fabrizio Rebecchi, Marco E Allaix, Marco G Patti, Francisco Schlottmann, Mario Morino
Fabrizio Rebecchi, Marco E Allaix, Mario Morino, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, 10126 Torino, Italy
Marco G Patti, Francisco Schlottmann, Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States
Author contributions: Rebecchi F and Allaix ME contributed equally to this work; Rebecchi F, Allaix ME, Patti MG, Schlottmann F and Morino M designed and performed the research; Rebecchi F, Allaix ME and Schlottmann F analyzed the data; Rebecchi F and Allaix ME drafted the paper; Patti MG revised the language; Patti MG and Morino M critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; all authors approved the final version of the article for publication.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Mario Morino, MD, Professor, Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Torino, Corso A. M. Dogliotti, 14 - 10126 Torino, Italy. mario.morino@unito.it
Telephone: +39-11-6313159 Fax: +39-11-6312548
Received: November 25, 2016
Peer-review started: November 28, 2016
First decision: December 29, 2016
Revised: January 15, 2017
Accepted: March 15, 2017
Article in press: March 15, 2017
Published online: April 7, 2017
Core Tip

Core tip: The current evidence about reflux control and the occurrence of de novo gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is controversial. Recent studies that have objectively evaluated GERD after LSG have shown no significant increase in postoperative GERD. The absence of mid-stomach narrowing and retained fundus, and the repair of a concomitant hiatal hernia seem to be key in reducing the risk of postoperative GERD. We discuss the currently available evidence on the impact of LSG on GERD, focusing on surgical technical aspects and new minimally invasive approaches for the management of postoperative GERD.