An Investigation of Electrical Stimulation on Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) in Patients After Sleeve Gastrectomy

Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has gained popularity as both a staged and a definitive procedure for morbid obesity due to its technical simplicity, low-morbidity and excellent results both for weight loss and control of metabolic syndrome. There are however reports of SG worsening pre-existing GERD or causing new-onset GERD. Because of this, patients with pre-existing GERD have been denied the benefits of SG. In addition, patients that develop post-op GERD cannot undergo traditional anti-reflux surgery since the gastric fundus that is required for fundoplication is removed during the SG. Hence, patients with post-SG GERD not adequately controlled with medication can only opt for the more invasive gastric bypass procedure as their only surgical treatment option. In a recently reported case study, an obese patient with severe GERD successfully treated with EndoStim underwent SG and maintained adequate GERD control with continued use of LES stimulation therapy. However electrical stimulation was not yet tested systematically in patients with prior gastric operation such as sleeve gastrectomy. This study will test the hypothesis that electrical stimulation is effective in control of GERD associated with SG.