Routine postoperative upper gastrointestinal series after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: determination of whether it is necessary.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical utility of the routine use of postoperative barium swallow to diagnose postoperative complications in patients undergoing open or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Design: A total of 417 consecutive patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass at our institution between January 1, 2001, and December 31, 2002, were included. We performed 341 open procedures and 76 laparoscopic gastric bypasses.