Laparoscopic VGS switched to open surgery

[Rexcom]

I heard of someone that had VGS.....that was supposed to be laparoscopic....but during the procedure they had to switch over to an open surgery procedure. (very rare)

Does anyone know the possible reasons for laparoscopic having to be switched to open surgery?
Also, how common is this? 1-2% ??

[Christie13]

This is what I found in my research but could not find the % rate:

•Adhesions ◦Adhesions are typically caused by prior abdominal surgery or illness(i.e. severe endometriosis).
◦Your internal tissues stick together when recovering from prior surgery or illness.
◦This causes the surgeon to remove the adhesions to visualize and/or free up the area that he needs to work on (your stomach).
◦This can occasionally lead to an open procedure if the surgeon cannot safely take down the adhesions via a laparoscopic approach.

[Rexcom]

I've heard that if a patient does not follow the pre-op diet....that could also contribute to the necessity for laparoscopic VGS switched to open surgery.

[DHB]

I've heard that if a patient does not follow the pre-op diet....that could also contribute to the necessity for laparoscopic VGS switched to open surgery.

The pre-op diet, according to my surgeon, is to reduce your liver and make it less fatty. I was told that if that wasn't successful the surgeon would have a hard time working around the liver and would cancel the surgery. (However, the blood tests done before surgery also give a clue about the health of your liver and my surgeon said unless liver markers were high the pre-op diet wasn't all that critical.) My surgeon never said she might go to open surgery if there was a problem but it's possible one of the many papers I signed gave permission to move to that if necessary.