Hyperirritable stomach as a cause of obstructive symptoms after sleeve gastrectomy: clinical and radiographic findings.

Purpose: To characterize clinical and radiographic features of a hyperirritable stomach after sleeve gastrectomy.

Materials/methods: Radiology reports revealed that 10/76 patients (13%) with obstructive symptoms after sleeve gastrectomy had a hyperirritable stomach.

Results: All 10 patients presented with nausea, vomiting, and/or regurgitation. All 10 had emesis on barium studies in the absence of gastric outlet obstruction, gastroparesis, or small bowel obstruction/ileus. Five had extraintestinal causes of nausea/vomiting. Eight had improvement/resolution of symptoms on medical treatment.

Conclusion: In 13% of patients with nausea/vomiting after sleeve gastrectomy, barium studies revealed a hyperirritable stomach, which likely is multifactorial and self-limited in most patients.