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Background: For metabolic laparoscopic surgery, higher pressures up to 20 mmHg are often used to create a surgical field of sufficient quality. This randomized pilot study aimed to determine the feasibility, safety and tolerability of low intraabdominal pressure (IAP) and deep neuromuscular blockade (NMB) to reduce postoperative pain. Methods: In a teaching hospital in the Netherlands, 62 patients eligible for a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) were randomized into one of four groups in a 2 × 2 factorial design: deep/moderate NMB and standard (20 mmHg)/low IAP (12 mmHg). Patient and surgical team were blinded. Primary outcome measure was the surgical field quality, scored on the Leiden-Surgical Rating Scale (L-SRS). Secondary outcome measures were (serious) adverse events, duration of surgery and postoperative pain. Results: 62 patients were included. L-SRS was good or perfect in all patients that were operated under standard IAP with deep or moderate NMB. In 40% of patients with low IAP and deep NMB, an increase in IAP was needed to improve surgical overview. In patients with low IAP and moderate NMB, IAP was increased to improve surgical overview in 40%, and in 75% of these cases a deep NMB was requested to further improve the surgical overview. Median duration of surgery was 38 min (IQR34-40 min) in the group with standard IAP and moderate NMB and 52 min (IQR46-55 min) in the group with low IAP and deep NMB. Conclusions: The combination of moderate NMB and low IAP can create insufficient surgical overview. Larger trials are needed to corroborate the findings of this study.

Background: To optimize the postoperative phase following bariatric surgery, the enhanced recovery after bariatric surgery pathway (ERABS) has been developed. The aim of ERABS is to create a care path that is as safe, efficient and patient-friendly as possible. Continuous evaluation and optimization of ERABS are important to ensure a safe treatment path and may result in better outcomes. The objective of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing bariatric surgery over 2014–2017, during which the ERABS protocol was continuously evaluated and optimized. Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study. Data were collected from patients undergoing a primary Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy between January 2014 and December 2017. Outcomes were early complications, unplanned hospital revisits, readmissions, duration of surgery and length of hospital stay. Results: 2889 patients underwent a primary bariatric procedure in a single center. There was a significant decrease in minor complications over the years from 7.0 to 1.9% (p?<?0.001). Hospital revisit rates decreased after 2015 (p?<?0.001). Readmission rates decreased over time (p?<?0.001). The mean duration of surgery decreased from 52 (in 2014) to 41 (in 2017) minutes (p?<?0.001). Median length of hospital stay decreased from 1.8 to 1.5 days in 2015 (p?=?0.002) and remained stable since. Conclusion: An improvement of the ERABS protocol was associated with a decrease in minor complication rates, number of unplanned hospital revisits and readmission rates after primary bariatric procedures.

This review evaluates clinical and experimental articles that have recently been published on the cardioprotective effect of perioperative statin therapy.