Is belching increasing after bariatric bypass surgery in the long term period?

Background and aims: Gastric bypass surgery effectively treats obesity; however, its association with belching, which occurs in other bariatric surgeries, remains unclear. Hence, we aimed to evaluate belching occurrence after gastric bypass surgery.

Methods: We enrolled 12 healthy volunteers and 17 patients (12 and 5 underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and mini-gastric bypass surgeries 24 (18–54) months prior, respectively). Gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed. Gastroscopy was performed, followed by the 24-hour pH-impedance analysis.

Results: Age and sex were not statistically different between the two groups (P > 0.05). Patients had a significantly higher mean DeMeester score than the healthy controls (9.11 ± 19.40 vs. 6.04 ± 5.60, P = 0.048), but the pathologic acid reflux (DeMeester score > 14) rate was similar in both groups (11.8% vs. 8.3%). Regarding the impedance, symptom-association probability was positive in 11.8% of patients. The patients also had higher alkaline reflux rates (6% vs. 0%); additionally, 50% of them experienced belching based on the questionnaire, and 25% had esophagitis based on gastroscopy. Furthermore, patients had a significantly higher number of gas reflux (123.24 ± 80 vs. 37.2 ± 21.5, P = 0.001) and supragastric/ gastric belches (182 ± 64/228 ± 66.69 vs. 25.08 ± 15.20/12.17 ± 17.65, P = 0.001). Supragastric belching was more frequent than gastric belching in the controls, whereas gastric belching was more frequent in the patients.

Conclusion: Belching increases after gastric bypass surgery in a long-term period. Gastric belching was more frequent than supragastric belching in these patients.

Keywords: bariatric bypass surgery, belching, impedance.