Background

Pain and Post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are postoperative complications influencing length of stay and patient satisfaction. There is a lack of evidence examining differences for Pain and PONV for bariatric surgery depending on procedure, approach or primary vs. revisional

Methods

We performed a prospective review of patients undergoing laparoscopic and robotic bariatric surgery from a single institution. Utilizing post-operative questionaries, patients were asked daily to report their degree of pain on a scale of (0-10), and nausea (0-10), as well as any episodes of nausea/ vomiting post-operatively until discharge.

Results

These results reported represent preliminary data obtained from 62 patients who underwent bariatric surgery in late 2021. Of these patients 22 (35%) underwent robotic surgery, and 40 (65%) underwent laparoscopic surgery (primary Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, primary sleeve gastrectomy, and revisional bariatric surgeries). Based on the preliminary data, there was no statistical difference in Pain or PONV robotic vs laparoscopic surgery (Pain: (SD=0.8, p= 0.08 and SD=0.7, p=0.06 respectively), (PONV: POD1 and POD2 nausea SD=2.4, P=0.38 and SD=2.6, P=0.88 respectively). No differences existed for either sleeve gastrectomy vs gastric bypass or primary vs. revisional surgeries.

Conclusions

Our study uniquely examines surgical approach, procedure, and revisional status and its effect on Pain and PONV. Current data do not demonstrate any differences between the groups indicating need for Pain and PONV management in all cases.