OBESITY SURGERY, cilt.28, sa.11, ss.3499-3504, 2018 (SCI-Expanded)
There is currently no evidence to support the routine use of an abdominal drain following laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). Our aim was to investigate drain use in laparoscopic RYGB and its effects on postoperative pain. Sixty-six patients were randomly divided into two groups as no-drain (n = 36) and with-drain (n = 30). Intraoperative (time, blood loss, complications) and postoperative outcomes (morbidities, pain scores, hospital stay) were compared. Demographics of both groups were comparable. Three patients in the no-drain group required a drain (8.3%). Median visual analog scale scores for days 1-3 for with-drain and no-drain groups were 4.5 (2-9) vs. 3 (0-8) (p = 0.02), 3 (0-7) vs. 2 (0-7) (p = 0.10), and 2 (0-7) vs. 0 (0-4) (p = 0.0004), respectively. There was no difference between the groups in terms of complications and length of hospital stay. Drain use increased the postoperative pain following laparoscopic RYGB. Drain placement following laparoscopic RYGB should be selective instead of a routine application.