Staple line integrity test in sleeve gastrectomy.

The methylene blue dye leak test is considered established practice in laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. 1,2 Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is rising in popularity. Dye is delivered via an orogastric tube, with an instrument placed across the gastrectomy sleeve, preventing pas-sage to the pylorus. Most standard laparoscopic instruments cannot compress the sleeve adequately. We use the partially closed endo-scopic linear stapler, with the discarded cartridge, previously used in the longitudinal gastrectomy. At 60 mm, it gives good compression across the length to occlude the stomach beyond the inferior end of the staple line. It is safe, effective, readily available and adds no fur-ther cost.