Is Molecular Analysis Mandatory for Better Post-surgical Outcome in Sleeve Gastrectomy Specimens with Asymptomatic Helicobacter pylori Colonization? A Study from Pakistan

Helicobacter pylori colonizes gastric tissue in obese patients and mostly remains undetected clinically, as histological and molecular analysis is seldom ordered in such cases.

This study aimed to detect the frequency of H. pylori using different techniques in sleeve gastrectomy specimens of obese patients with minimal or no symptoms suggestive of gastritis.

This longitudinal study was carried out at Farooq Hospital Westwood Lahore, Morbid Anatomy and Histopathology Department and Resource Laboratory at the University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, from February 2021 to September 2021. This study selected 80 cases who underwent sleeve gastrectomy within six months. Helicobacter pylori was detected by rapid urease test (RUT), modified Giemsa staining, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques.

Most patients (83.7%) were clinically asymptomatic, while 10% had mild and 6.3% had moderate to severe gastritis symptoms. Of the asymptomatic patients, 56.7% of biopsies showed chronic gastritis. Rapid urease test and modified Giemsa staining showed positive evidence for H. pylori in 47.3% of cases, whereas an additional 13.2% of biopsies that were negative on conventional methods showed the amplification of H. pylori DNA by PCR. Patients were discharged with proton-pump inhibitors therapy (40 mg/day) that showed no adverse post-surgical event over a follow-up of six months.

Persistent obesity and other socioeconomic factors may lead to colonizing asymptomatic H. pylori infection. More sensitive techniques for detecting H. pylori may be employed in resource-constrained settings for better patient outcomes and to minimize the complications after sleeve gastrectomy.