Benefits of Bariatric Surgery Last Up to 12 Years

The benefits of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, including remission and prevention of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, were still present after 12 years, according to the results of a recent study.

Few long-term studies of the benefits of bariatric surgery have been done, according to the researchers. For this reason, they conducted a 12-year follow-up study of 1156 patients with severe obesity who were categorized into 1 of 3 groups: 418 who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, 417 who sought but did not undergo surgery (nonsurgery group 1), and 321 patients who did not undergo surgery (nonsurgery group 2). Clinical examinations were performed at baseline and at 2, 6, and 12 years.
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Overall, the adjusted mean change from baseline in body weight in the surgery group was -45 kg at 2 years, -36.3 kg at 6 years, and -35 kg at 12 years. The mean change at 12 years was -2.9 kg in surgery group 1 and 0 kg in surgery group 2.

Among those in the surgery group with type 2 diabetes at baseline, diabetes was remitted in 66 of 88 patients at 2 years, 54 of 87 at 6 years, and 43 of 84  at 12 years. Odds ratios for incidence of type 2 diabetes at 12 years were 0.08 for the surgery group vs nonsurgery group 1 and -.08 for the surgery group vs nonsurgery group 2. Higher remission rates for hypertension and dyslipidemia were also observed in the surgery group compared with nonsurgery group 1.

“This study showed long-term durability of weight loss and effective remission and prevention of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Adams TD, Davidson LE, Litwin SE, et al. Weight and metabolic outcomes 12 years after gastric bypass [published online September 21, 2017]. N Engl J Med. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1700459.