Effect of Concomitant Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy and Hiatal Hernia Repair on Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Patients with Obesity: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background Hiatal hernia repair (HHR) during sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is recommended when hiatal hernia (HH) is found intraoperatively. However, its effect on gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) remains controversial. Objective To evaluate the effect of concomitant SG and HHR on GERD in patients with obesity. Methods Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched for all studies reporting the efficacy of SG+HHR for patients with obesity and GERD up to March 2021. Results A total of 18 studies totaling 937 patients met the inclusion criteria. The results of meta-analysis showed that after SG+HHR, there was a significant reduction in GERD symptoms (OR: 0.20; 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.41; P < 0.00001), improvement in esophagitis (OR: 0.12, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.26, P < 0.001), and decrease in GERD-HRQL (MD: 19.13, 95% CI: -3.74 to 34.51; P=0.01). The incidence of GERD remission after SG+HHR was 68.0% (95% CI: 55.0-80.9%), de novo GERD was 12% (95% CI: 8-16%), and HH recurrence was 11% (95% CI: 4 to 19%). SG+HHR was superior to SG alone in GERD remission (OR: 2.97, 95% CI: 1.78 to 4.95, P < 0.0001). However, there was no significant difference in de novo GERD after SG+HHR compared with SG alone. Conclusions SG+IEHR can positively affect weight loss, GERD resolution, esophagitis reduction, and GERD-HRQL improvement. SG+HHR seems to have a promising future in patients with obesity and GERD. However, further studies based on objective assessment are warranted to evaluate these results better.

Automated summary

After undergoing SG+HHR treatment, patients experienced a significant reduction in GERD symptoms, improvement in esophagitis, and decrease in GERD-HRQL. SG+HHR has a positive impact on GERD remission, reduction in esophagitis, and improvement in GERD-HRQL.