cedures (laparoscopic gastric banding, Roux-en-Y open and laparoscopic gastric bypass) for the treatment of morbid obesity were performed in our institution. Retrospectively, hospital and ED admissions were then reviewed to determine which of these patients presented within 1 year of surgery. Results: Twenty percent of the total population (92 patients) treated surgically for morbid obesity (16% open procedures and 4% laparoscopic procedures) presented to the ED. Overall, 41% of laparoscopic and 43% of open procedure emergency visits resulted in patient discharge. The average number of ED visits for open bypass and laparoscopic procedures were 1.78 and 1.3, respectively (p 0.04). The average hospital length of stay from these visits was 4.2 days for the open procedure and 3.6 for the laparoscopic procedure (p 0.5). The most common causes of readmission were abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and wound complications for the open procedure. Meanwhile, nausea and vomiting were the most common causes of readmission for the laparoscopic cases. Conclusions: Emergency room visit rates are higher after open bariatric procedures than with laparoscopic procedures. However, nearly half of all ED visits after both open and laparoscopic procedures combined resulted in no hospital admission. PII: S1550-7289(05)00228-5