Long-term outcome of inferior vena cava filter placement in patients undergoing gastric bypass.

Background: It has been well established that inferior vena cava (IVC) filter placement at the time of open gastric bypass (OGB) surgery in patients with a body mass index of more than 55 kg/m(2) reduces both the pulmonary embolism rate and the perioperative mortality. However, little is known about the long-term effects of IVC filter placement in this particular group of patients.

Methods: Over an 8-year period, a total of 571 morbid obese patients underwent OGB procedures, and 58 (10%) of them required placement of an IVC filter before their procedure.

The incidence of pulmonary embolism in open versus laparoscopic gastric bypass.

Obesity independently increases the risk of pulmonary embolism (PE). We compare a superobese population (body mass index [BMI] > 55 kg/m(2)) undergoing open gastric bypasses (OGBs) with a similarly matched group of laparoscopic gastric bypasses (LGB) to see if the incidence of PE differs. We included all patients undergoing OGB (n = 193, average BMI = 51 kg/m(2)) at our institution by a single surgeon between July 1999 and April 2001.