Liver problems 1 year after Sleeve

[laura1116 112]

My daughter is one year out of gastric sleeve surgery. She has done very well but in the last couple weeks she has been experiencing very high liver enzyme’s and Billiruben in her urine. She is in the hospital right now and they have ruled out Hepatitis. They do not seem to be paying much attention to the fact that she has had gastric sleeve. She only drinks alcohol socially. And she is only 24.Has anyone heard of this complication a year after surgery or more?

[HappyHikerGal 132]

This article discusses a very rare and extreme example of liver disease post-op (this patient died of a hospital infection, and not from anything related to her liver disease, btw). This may not be relevant to your daughter's case, but I'm sharing it in case you want to bring it to the doctors' attention.

It's also a wake-up call for me because one of the reason's I'm getting VSG is to be an eligible liver or kidney donor for my sister.

It's a reminder to us all that we must be diligent about taking Vitamins.

http://article.scholarena.co/Liver-Failure-after-Bariatric-Surgery-Clinical-Case-and-Literature-Review.pdf

[ValerieInMexico 162]

That is a good article. If we think about it, rapid weight loss, particularly with the morbidly obese, requires that the body process and remove materials left from the broken down fat..... and it happens through the liver. OK, I am not a scientist, obviously. I see that the article sites patients with very high BMIs as being vulnerable.

I sure hope that Laura's daughter will be OK. This is an important article to show the people at the hospital.

[okayestmom 232]

I had liver problems most likely from chronic gallbladder issues. Small stones passing through the common duct. They never could find out for sure, but the problem resolved after gallbladder removal and my liver biopsy came back good.

Edit- it took about 3 months for bilirubin and liver enzymes to return to normal.

Edited September 24, 2019 by okayestmom

[Ømatt 51]

I had gallbladder issues 6 months after surgery which was causing liver problems

apparently gallbladder issues are so common after WLS they should remove the gallbladder the same time as the WLS

[ValerieInMexico 162]

I was part of a research study, while on a medically supervised weight loss program with Optifast. this was in the 1990s, long before I had bariatric surgery. It is not the surgery that causes the problem. It is the rapid weightloss. People who loose large amounts of fat, over a relatively short period of time, can have complications with gallbladders. So, it could be prudent to remove it while having weight loss surgery to avoid having to have another surgery.

[okayestmom 232]

How is your daughter doing now? Did they figure it out?