The results of this research are based on the follow-up of 95 laparoscopic vertical gastrectomies that used, in some cases, gastric serous-serous suture (traditionally used, together with staples, due to their ability to prevent leaks or possible bleeding) and, in some cases, others, linear suture.

The medical team at the Hospital Universitari Son Espases has shown that the linear suture is more than enough in those cases in which lateral gastrectomies are performed.

The study, carried out between March 2010 and December 2015, has also indicated that linear suture can avoid some problems that affect patients who undergo gastric serous-serous suture.

This is, at least, what emerges from the comparison made between the two groups into which the subjects who have been the object of this research were divided.

The sample consisted of 70 women and 25 men, aged between 25 and 60 years and with a mean BMI of 47.45. It not only focused on the data provided during the intervention and the subsequent postoperative period, but also included a 29-month follow-up. The objective was clear: to evaluate possible risks or consequences that could derive from the evolution of the gastrectomy itself.

Of the 95 patients who have been the object of this comparative study, 44 underwent reinforcement with gastric serosa, forming group I; the remaining 51, who formed group II, did not receive any type of reinforcement. The conclusions revealed that of the 44 subjects in group I, 2.27% had to be operated on again to treat an early fistula located at the esophagus-gastric junction, compared to 1.96% in group II, who had a second time by the operating room to correct, at 5 months, problems of narrowing (stenosis) of the incisura angularis, a problem that eventually led to a gastric bypass. In addition to the reduction in complications, the operating time was also reduced between the patients in both groups.

The researchers have noted a difference of 38 minutes between the subjects who received the suture reinforcement, whose intervention lasted 125 minutes, and those who did not, who were only in the operating room for 87 minutes.

These interesting results have shown, as pointed out by the physicians who conducted this study, that linear suture is safe and effective, while reducing operating time. Even so, they affirm that it is necessary to delve into these results to confirm, with other samples, the data provided in the research.