ABSTRACT
Bariatric surgery, in particular the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP) operation, has been shown to have several significant benefits, including long-term excess weight loss, improvement in quality of life, and amelioration or resolution of obesity-related comorbidities [1-3]. Recent studies have also demonstrated that many gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, such as abdominal pain and heartburn/acid reflux, significantly improve after laparoscopic RYGBP [4,5]. While the majority of patients achieve successful outcomes following bariatric surgery, a small but significant proportion develop GI complications at some point during their postoperative course. With the dramatic escalation in the number of bariatric surgeries now being performed, these GI complications have become an important cause of morbidity. Therefore, primary care providers must become familiar with these complications and play an active role in their appropriate long-term management [6].
