Weight Loss Before Bariatric Surgery May Improve Outcomes

Bariatric surgery recipients who lose at least 8% of excess weight prior to surgery tend to experience better outcomes postoperatively, results of a new study show.

For their study, the researchers assessed patients who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (SG; n = 167) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB; n = 188) between 2014 and 2016. All patients included in the study followed a program-recommended low-calorie diet during the 4 weeks prior to surgery.
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Following completion of the diet, the researchers further evaluated patients based on which patients achieved at least 8% excess weight loss (n = 224) vs which patients did not (n = 131).

Findings indicated that those who had lost at least 8% of excess weight prior to surgery lost a greater percentage of excess weight at months 3, 6, and 12 post-surgery. In addition, those who had lost at least 8% of excess weight during the 4-week diet program before surgery lost 7.5% more excess weight at 12 months after surgery.

The researchers also found that patients who had lost at least 8% of excess weight preoperatively had lower median operative duration (117 minutes vs 125 minutes) and mean hospital length of stay (1.8 days vs 2.1 days).

“Based on these data, preoperative weight loss of [at least 8%] excess weight, while following a 4-week [low calorie diet], is associated with a significantly greater rate of postoperative [excess weight loss] over 1 year, as well as shorter operative duration and hospital length of stay,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Hutcheon DA, Hale AL, Ewing JA, et al. Short-term preoperative weight loss and postoperative outcomes in bariatric surgery [Published online February 2, 2018]. J Am Coll Surg.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2017.12.032.