Routine Drain Placement in Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: An Expanded Retrospective Comparative Study of 755 Patients and Review of the Literature

Abstract  Routine drain use after laparoscopic Roux-en-y gastric bypass (LRYGB) is still practiced by many bariatric surgeons. After
a patient in our program experienced intestinal obstruction secondary to a drain, we reevaluated our practice and hypothesized
drains would be of no benefit and potentially harmful after LRYGB. Retrospective record review of all patients undergoing
LRYGB from August 2005 to August 2009 was performed. As we changed our practice in December 2006, we have two comparable groups:
one with a drain placed at surgery and one without. All operations were otherwise performed in an identical fashion by three
fellowship-trained university surgeons. We compared outcomes between the two groups, particularly regarding gastrojejunal
(GJ) leaks. Jejunojejunal …