Prospective Monitoring of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth After Gastric Bypass: Clinical, Biological, and Gas Chromatographic Aspects.

Abstract

Obesity is a predisposing factor for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the prevalence of SIBO as well as its clinical, biological, and nutritional aspects before and up to 24months after a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery. Fifty-one patients (mean BMI 46.9kg/m2, 66.7% women) requesting RYGB were included between 2016 and 2020. Each patient underwent a glucose breath test, a standardized interrogation on functional digestive signs, a dietary survey, a blood test, a fecalogram, and anthropometric data gathering. These investigations were carried out before surgery and at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24months after RYGB. Before surgery, we found a prevalence of 17.6% of SIBO (95% CI = [8.9%; 31.4%]). After RYGB, at the end of 24months of follow-up, 89.5% of patients developed SIBO. Anal incontinence appeared to be very frequent after surgery, affecting 18.8% of our population 18months after surgery. We observed positive steatorrhea after surgery with an average of 11.1g of lipids/24h despite a significant limitation of dietary lipids (p = 0.0282). Our study corroborates data in the literature on the prevalence of SIBO in severe obesity patients. For the first time, we observed the sudden appearance of SIBO after RYGB, with a correlation between exhaled hydrogen on a breath test and lipid malabsorption on the fecalogram. As a result, these patients develop fatty diarrhea, with frequent fecal incontinence.