Wernicke Encephalopathy: a Future Problem Even After Sleeve Gastrectomy? A Systematic Literature Review

Overview

Journal Obes Surg

Date 2015 Oct 19

PMID 26476834

Citations 18

Authors

Dino Kroll

Markus Laimer

Yves Michael Borbely

Kurt Laederach

Daniel Candinas

Philipp Christoph Nett

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) is a serious complication of bariatric surgery with significant morbidity and mortality. A few cases have been reported in the literature, mainly in patients after a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Since sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has become a more established and popular bariatric procedure, WE is expected to appear more frequently after SG. We performed a literature review on WE after SG, and 13 cases have been found to be sufficiently documented. The risk of WE needs to be considered in patients with a prolonged vomiting episode and any type of neurological symptoms, independent of the presence of any surgical complications.

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