Bariatric surgery and stone disease

Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment strategy for patients with morbid obesity that can result in effective weight loss, resolution of diabetes mellitus and other weight related complications, and even improved mortality. However, it also appears that hyperoxaluria is common after modern bariatric surgery, perhaps occurring in up to 50% of patients after Rouxen-Y gastric bypass. Although increasing numbers of patients are being seen with calcium oxalate kidney stones after bariatric surgery, and even a few with oxalosis and renal failure, the true risk of these outcomes remains unknown. The mechanisms that contribute to this enteric hyperoxaluria are also incompletely defined, although fat malabsorption may be an important component. Since increasing numbers of these procedures are likely to be performed in the coming years, further study regarding the prevalence and mechanisms of hyperoxaluria and kidney stones after bariatricsurgery is needed to devise effective methods of treatment in order to prevent such complications.