Several months after her death on Jan. 12, 2023, at the age of 54, Lisa Marie Presley‘s cause of death has been revealed as “sequelae of a small bowel obstruction” caused by scar tissue that developed after the singer-songwriter underwent bariatric surgery several years earlier, according to an autopsy report released on Thursday (July 13) by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
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Deputy medical examiner Dr. Juan M. Carrillo attributed Presley’s bowel obstruction to “adhesions (or, scar tissue) that developed after bariatric surgery years ago. This is a known long-term complication of this type of surgery.”
Carillo concluded, “There is no evidence of injury or foul play. The manner of death is deemed natural.”
On Jan. 12, Presley was complaining of severe abdominal pain, according to the report, and was later found unresponsive at her home in Calabasas, California by her ex-husband Danny Keough, who was living with her at the time. Presley went into cardiac arrest after being taken to the hospital and died that afternoon.
The report revealed that Presley was sober “for the past few years” but was still suffering from health issues following the bariatric surgery, or gastric bypass surgery, a treatment often taken by people who cannot lose weight from exercise and diet alone.
Months after her procedure, Presley complained of fevers, abdominal pain, fevers, nausea, and vomiting, according to the report, but did not seek medical attention. She was also prescribed opiates following her surgery for an infection, in addition to another medication to help wean her off the opioids.
Presley had a “history of overmedicating; she was known to forget she had taken her medications and would take them again,” according to the report, which also showed “therapeutic levels of oxycodone” in her blood. Buprenorphine, which treats opioid addiction, was also present in Presley’s system but was not linked to her death.
Just two days before her death, Presley attended the Golden Globe Awards in support of the biopic about her father, Elvis, which received multiple nominations.
On Jan. 22, Presley was buried at Graceland alongside her father and son Benjamin Keough, who died at the age of 27 in 2020.
Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images
