Background: Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for obesity. Its effects go beyond weight loss in a
high percentage of cases achieving remission of comorbidities associated with obesity and reducing mortality.
An essential step in laparoscopic bariatric surgery is elevation of the left liver lobe to expose the gastro-esophageal
junction. An enlarged and fatty liver complicates the surgical procedure and increases the risk for laceration of the
liver. Liver span can be reduced before the operation by very low caloric diet or by Omega 3 capsules.
Patients and methods: This is a prospective randomized study which included 40 morbidly obese patients,
divided into two groups; group A those on pre-operative very low caloric diet (VLCD), and group B those on
preoperative Omega 3 capsules.
All patients underwent a bariatric procedure in Kasr Alainy Teaching Hospital from August 2019 to February
2020. Preoperative and postoperative evaluation followed the same standard protocol .All patients in both groups
underwent pelvi-abdominal ultrasound before and after VLCD and Omega 3 capsules preoperative by the same
operator.
Results: In the current study there is statistically significant decrease in the preoperative Liver Span group A
(Mean decrease from 13.5±1.6 to 11.9±1.4) and in group B (Mean decrease from 14.4±2.2 to 12.8±2.3) (p value
< 0.001). However, no significant difference was found between the two groups.
Conclusion: The low caloric diet outperformed the omega-3 in total liver volume reduction, but the difference was
not significant.