Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is now widely accepted as a form of primary procedure to treat morbid obesity. There has also been evidence to support laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as a safe and efficacious procedure for pre-transplant patients with morbid obesity. However, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy to achieve weight loss as a procedure to improve living donor candidacy in morbidly obese patients has not been examined. We report a case of a patient who was initially not an ideal candidate as an altruistic renal transplant donor due to his morbid obesity. This 24-year-old gentleman initially underwent a trial of medical therapy to achieve weight loss but was unsuccessful. He subsequently presented to our bariatric service where he was offered laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy to achieve weight loss. He has a medical history of allergic rhinitis, hyperlipidemia and mild obstructive sleep apnea. The patient subsequently underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy with a pre-operative body mass index (BMI) of 36.2 kg/m 2 . He tolerated the procedure well and was discharged on postoperative day five with no significant perioperative complications. The patient was followed up and achieved significant weight loss of 35 kg with BMI of 24.5 kg/m 2 nine months after the surgery. He was reassessed by the transplant team and was deemed to be fit to be a renal transplant donor. The ASA score improved from III to I. The patient subsequently underwent left laparoscopic nephrectomy as a living donor and tolerated the procedure well. There were no immediate post-operative complications and he was discharged well on post- operative day three. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy may be a viable primary bariatric procedure to achieve rapid weight loss to improve candidacy of morbidly obese patients as potential transplant donors.

Biography

Oh Han Boon graduated with an MBBS from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore in 2009. He was awarded the membership from the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh (MRCSEd) in 2013 after successfully completing the membership examinations. He is currently a 2 nd year resident in the General Surgery Residency Program at the National University Health System, Singapore.