Gastric sleeve surgery for OSA in Prader Willi: Is it worthwhile in long term?

Introduction: Prader Willi syndrome is a genetic disorder with multisystem involvement. Bariatric laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy surgery (LSG) has been proposed as a mean of weight control in Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS) patients. In this case-series, we are questioning the effectiveness of bariatric gastric sleeve surgery as a long-term solution for weight control. Aims and Objectives: There is some controversy around sleeve gastrectomy as a management strategy in PWS to control OSA. We aimed at analysing long term usefulness of LSG in successfully alleviating obesity related OSA. Therefore, we followed up four patients in our centre with PWS who had LSG and evaluated their growth parameters along with symptoms of sleep disordered breathing. Results: Conclusions: We believe that LSG has a limited and transient success for obesity management in PWS patients, especially in the absence of a multidisciplinary team which can provide behavioural therapy, nutritional plan, and psychosocial support. Further studies are needed to compare the long term outcome of nutritional counselling alongside gastric sleeve surgery.