Preoperative versus intraoperative diagnosis of hiatal hernia in bariatric population.

Abstract

Hiatal hernia is frequently encountered intraoperatively during bariatric surgery. There is scarce research pertaining to the diagnostic accuracy of a preoperative diagnostic modality in comparison to intraoperative diagnosis, along with patient characteristics and related factors contributing to hiatal hernia. To identify the prevalence and associations of hiatal hernia in the bariatric patient population, we compared the diagnostic accuracy of upper gastrointestinal series and esophagogastroduodenoscopy with the intraoperative findings across various patient characteristics. Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program, Teaching Hospital, New York, USA. Retrospective study of patients from 2015 to 2018 who met National Institutes of Health criteria for bariatric surgery. There were 1094 patients included (135 males, 959 females), with an age range of 18 to 74 years. The diagnostic accuracy was determined by a sensitivity of 64.71% (95% confidence interval [CI] .55-.70), specificity of 74.38% (95% CI .71-.70), positive predictive value of 29.86% (95% CI .24-.30), negative predictive value of 92.59% (95%CI .89-90), likelihood ratio of 2.526, and P value < .0001 for esophagogastroduodenoscopy; a sensitivity of 14.02% (95% CI .08-0), specificity of 98.23% (95% CI .96-.90), positive predictive value of 71.43% (95% CI .50-.80), negative predictive value of 78.35% (95% CI .74-.80), likelihood ratio 7.921, and P value < .0001 were used for upper gastrointestinal series. Hiatal hernia with age <60 years was 17.09% versus 48.44% at >60 years (P< .0001). Hiatal hernia incidence was 17% in Hispanics, 22.5% in Caucasians, and 23.10% in blacks. The prevalence of hiatal hernia is 18.92%. There is strong association between hiatal hernia and age and ethnicity and no association based on sex and body mass index. The diagnostic accuracy of upper gastrointestinal series is very low compared with that of esophagogastroduodenoscopy for hiatal hernia. Preoperative diagnosis of hiatal hernia in the bariatric population is not required based on our study. Not only does it lessen the economic burden, patient wait time, and discomfort of an additional study, but preoperative diagnosis does not change, alter, or aid in the intraoperative management of hiatal hernia considering the suboptimal accuracy of preoperative diagnostics, thus deeming them unwarranted.