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Lisa Marie Presley died from bowel obstruction, medical officials say

July 14, 2023

Lisa Marie Presley had been complaining on January 12 of severe abdominal pain, according to an autopsy report released on Thursday by the medical examiner’s office. Later that day, she was found unresponsive at her home in Calabasas, California, and taken by paramedics to a West Hills Hospital where she went into cardiac arrest and died that afternoon.

“The obstruction was in the form of a strangulated small bowel caused by adhesions that developed after bariatric surgery years ago,” the report said. “This is a known long-term complication of this type of surgery.”

Small bowel obstruction (SBO) after gastric bypass occurs with a frequency of 0.2%–4.5%, years or months after surgery.

Sources:

Del Rosaria, A. and De Loera, C. (2023, July 13). Los Angeles Times. Lisa Marie Presley's death tied to weight-loss surgery 'years ago,' autopsy report says. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-07-13/lisa-marie-presley-cause-of-death-elvis-presley-graceland

Pilone V, et al. Int J Surg Case Rep. (2019, March 5). 2019;57:15-18. Small bowel obstruction after gastric by-pass. Diagnostic limits and percutaneous drain. A paradigmatic case. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6416967/.