title: Monitoring of Liver Function Tests after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: An Examination of Evidence Base.
abstract: There is no consensus on the monitoring of liver function tests after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). Since the main objective of such monitoring would be to diagnose early those who will eventually develop liver failure after RYGB, we performed a systematic review on this topic. An extensive search of literature revealed only 10 such cases in 6 published articles. It would hence appear that liver failure is a rare problem after RYGB. Routine lifelong monitoring of liver function tests is therefore unnecessary for otherwise asymptomatic individuals. Such monitoring should hence be reserved for high-risk groups, such as patients with liver cirrhosis, those undergoing extended limb/distal RYGB, patients with new illnesses, those abusing alcohol, those on hepatotoxic drugs and those presenting with a surgical complication.
authors.affiliation: Bariatric Unit, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, SR4 7TP, UK. kamal_mahawar@hotmail.com.|Department of Pharmacy, Health and Well-being, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, SR1 3SD, UK. kamal_mahawar@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Kamal K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Mahawar
authors.affiliation: Bariatric Unit, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, SR4 7TP, UK.
authors.forename: Chetan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parmar
authors.affiliation: Bariatric Unit, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, SR4 7TP, UK.|Department of Pharmacy, Health and Well-being, University of Sunderland, Sunderland, SR1 3SD, UK.
authors.forename: Yitka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: Bariatric Unit, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, SR4 7TP, UK.
authors.forename: Nimantha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Alwis
authors.affiliation: Bariatric Unit, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, SR4 7TP, UK.
authors.forename: William R J
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.affiliation: Bariatric Unit, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, SR4 7TP, UK.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.affiliation: Bariatric Unit, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, SR4 7TP, UK.
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Small
mesh_terms: D042241:Early Diagnosis; D015390:Gastric Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000209:etiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D015431:Weight Loss
keywords: Follow-up; Gastric bypass; Liver decompensation; Liver failure; Liver function tests; Roux-en-Y gastric bypass