Acrodermatitis due to zinc deficiency after combined vertical gastroplasty with jejunoileal bypass: case report

CONTEXT: Nutritional complications may occur after bariatric surgery, due to restriction of food intake and impaired digestion or absorption of nutrients. CASE REPORT: After undergoing vertical gastroplasty and jejunoileal bypass, a female patient presented marked weight loss and protein deficiency. Seven months after the bariatric surgery, she presented dermatological features compatible with acrodermatitis enteropathica, as seen from the plasma zinc levels, which were below the reference values (34.4 mg%). The skin lesions improved significantly after 1,000 mg/day of zinc sulfate supplementation for one week. CONCLUSIONS: The patient's evolution shows that the multidisciplinary team involved in surgical treatment of obesity should take nutritional deficiencies into consideration in the differential diagnosis of skin diseases, in order to institute early treatment.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cunha,Selma Freire de Carvalho, Gonçalves,Gilson Antônio Pereira, Marchini,Julio Sérgio, Roselino,Ana Maria Ferreira
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Associação Paulista de Medicina - APM 2012
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-31802012000500010
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!