Lisa Marie Presley's deadly bowel strangulation was complication of bariatric surgery: report

A report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner shows that Lisa Marie Presley's cause of death was from a "sequelae of small bowel obstruction" from bariatric weight loss surgery. 

A bowel obstruction is the blockage of the small or large intestines. In the case of Presley, the blockage came from scar tissue that developed after a bariatric surgery that she had years ago. 



Bariatric surgery focuses on helping the patient lose weight after diet and exercise have been attempted for weight loss. It is a treatment meant to help with "diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and high cholesterol, among many other diseases" that are connected to high body fat percentage. 

The autopsy report, obtained by CNN, came from Dr. Juan Carillo, a medical examiner in California. He stated that "[t]here is no evidence of injury or foul play. The manner of death is deemed natural." 

Blood tests showed that there were "therapeutic” levels of oxycodone in Presley’s body when she passed away. 

Other reports corroborated the blood tests and show, leading up to her death, that Presley had been taking opioids. She was also on an extreme weight loss regimen and lost 40-50 pounds over the course of six weeks leading up to the Golden Globes on January 10, 2023. 

Lisa Marie Presley is the only daughter of the late Elvis and Priscilla Presley. She died on January 12 this year and was originally reported as cardiac arrest. Presley was 54 years old at the time. 

In an interview at the Globes, just days before her death, she reportedly appeared to slur her words and had to lean on a friend as she spoke to reporters. She had complained of abdominal pain the morning that she died and was taking weight loss medication at the time. 

The weight loss surgery had happened years prior to her death.

Bariatric surgery involves "creat[ing] a small pouch that bypasses the stomach and attaches to the intestine." The process creates a "new, smaller stomach" that is designed to hold less food. The small intestine is then brought up to the separated small stomach pouch to complete the digestive system. 

This is meant to restrict "the amount of food you can eat and reduces the number of calories your body will absorb."

Risks and complications to the surgery, aside from intestinal blockage, include the perforation of the stomach or intestines, leakage of stomach acids, and internal bleeding.