Laparoscopic Versus Transabdominal Ultrasound in Morbidly Obese Patients

Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation

Status: Completed

Conditions: Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass; Cholelithiasis; Ultrasonography

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00971750

2-03-08-009

Details and patient eligibility

About

The objective of this study is to prospectively compare laparoscopic ultrasound to transabdominal ultrasound for the detection of gallbladder pathology in obese patients presenting for laparoscopic gastric bypass. We hypothesize that laparoscopic ultrasound will be more sensitive and specific for cholelithiasis than transabdominal ultrasound in morbidly obese patients.

Full description

Asymptomatic cholelithiasis is a prevalent condition in obese patients presenting for bariatric surgery. Transabdominal ultrasound (TAU) remains the gold standard for detection of cholelithiasis. The sensitivity and specificity of transabdominal ultrasound for cholelithiasis reported in literature is between 88-97% and 97-99%, respectively. The ability to detect cholelithiasis with TAU in the obese population may be inhibited due to the presence of increased subcutaneous and visceral fat. Laparoscopic ultrasound (LU) has the potential to overcome these technical challenges. In an era of minimally invasive bariatric surgery, it has been suggested that routine preoperative ultrasound TAU be performed for the detection of cholelithiasis since intraoperative palpation is not feasible. We hypothesize that laparoscopic ultrasound will be more sensitive and specific for cholelithiasis than transabdominal ultrasound in morbidly obese patients.

Enrollment: 253 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Morbidly obese patients undergoing elective laparoscopic roux-en-Y gastric bypass

Exclusion criteria

• Prior history of gallbladder surgery

Trial design

253 participants in 1 patient group

Ultrasound Study Group

Description:

Patients with no history of gallbladder surgery who are undergoing elective laparoscopic roux-en-Y gastric bypass that have consented to undergo a preoperative transabdominal ultrasound in addition to routine preoperative assessment for surgery.