Postoperative respiratory complications in bariatric surgery: review of literature

Abstract

Obesity is a public health problem worldwide because of the high rates of morbimortality. Bariatric surgery has been the most often treatment and attracts attention on its development and results. However, there is no review about the incidence of respiratory complications in this population. The aim of this study was to review the literature on respiratory complications in conventional bariatric surgery utilizing the databases PubMed, Scielo and Cochrane. The terms searched were complications, pulmonary, postoperative care and bariatric surgery, and the limits, the last ten years, adults, English and Spanish. We found 69 articles, and used 21, showing that the most common respiratory complications in bariatric surgery are pulmonary embolism, atelectasis and pneumonia, being related to age and the presence of hypoventilation. Morbid obesity is associated with respiratory dysfunction, including decreased cardiorespiratory endurance and dyspnea, being the most common changes: the decrease in ventilation and chest wall compliance, and tachypnea and respiratory muscle workload, with high rates of hypoxemia and respiratory fatigue. Our results suggest that pulmonary embolism, atelectasis and pneumonia are the pulmonary complications with the highest incidences in conventional bariatric surgery, and elderly and patients with hypoventilation or syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea have higher risk of developing postoperative pulmonary complications.