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Patients’ perspectives on weight recurrence after bariatric surgery: a single-center survey

  • 2023 SAGES Poster
  • Published:
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Abstract

Background

Weight recurrence (WR) affects nearly 20% of patients after bariatric surgery and may decrease its benefits, affecting patients’ quality of life negatively. Patient perspectives on WR are not well known.

Objectives

Assess patient needs, goals, and preferences regarding WR treatment.

Setting

Single MBSAQIP-accredited academic center, and online recruitment.

Methods

An 18-item, web-based survey was distributed to adults seeking treatment for WR after a primary bariatric surgery (PBS), in addition to online recruitment, between 2021 and 2023. Survey items included somatometric data, questions about the importance of factors for successful weight loss, procedure decision-making, and treatment expectations.

Results

Fifty-six patients with > 10% increase from their nadir weight were included in the study. Patients had initially undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (62.5%), sleeve gastrectomy (28.6%), adjustable gastric banding (3.6%), or other procedures (5.3%). When assessing their satisfaction with PBS, 57.1% were somewhat/extremely satisfied, 33.9% somewhat/extremely dissatisfied, while 8.9% were ambivalent. Patients considered the expected benefits (for example, weight loss) as the most important factor when choosing a treatment option for WR. Patient goals included “feeling good about myself” (96.4% very/extremely important), “being able to resume activities I could not do before” (91% very/extremely important), and “improved quality of life” and “-life expectancy” (> 90% very/extremely important). Finally, RBS, lifestyle modification with peer support, and anti-obesity medication were ranked as first treatment options for WR by 40%, 38.8%, and 29.8% of the respondents, respectively.

Conclusions

Patients considered weight loss as the most important factor when choosing treatment modality for WR, with RBS and lifestyle changes being preferred over weight-loss medications. Large prospective randomized trials are needed to counsel this patient population better.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Mr. Garrett Swisher, Mr. Tyler Townsend, Ms. Jessica Farnworth, Ms. Cathleen Carlos, Ms. Paula A. Shupe, and Ms. Sarde Dupree-Russ, who helped develop and distribute the survey at the IU Health bariatric clinic.

Funding

No financial support was received for this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, 545 Barnhill Dr, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Spyridon Giannopoulos, Qais AbuHasan, Jill D. Nault Connors, Dimitrios I. Athanasiadis, Victoria Martine, Timothy C. Baumgartner & Dimitrios Stefanidis

  2. General Surgery, Indiana University Health Physicians, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    William Hilgendorf

  3. Indiana University Health North Hospital, Carmel, IN, USA

    Robin Gardiner

Authors
  1. Spyridon Giannopoulos
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  2. Qais AbuHasan
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  4. Dimitrios I. Athanasiadis
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  5. William Hilgendorf
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Contributions

The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: study conception and design: CJ, HW, GS, SD; Data collection: GR, MV, BTC, GS, AHQ; analysis and interpretation of results: GS, AQ, SD; draft preparation: GS, AHQ, AID, SD; critical content revision: SD, CJ, HW, AID, GR, MV, BTC.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dimitrios Stefanidis.

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Disclosures

Dr. Dimitrios Stefanidis has received institutional research support from Becton Dickinson and Intuitive and is consultant with Applied medical and Johnson and Johnson which are not related to this study. Spyridon Giannopoulos, Qais AbuHasan, Jill D Nault Connors, Dimitrios I. Athanasiadis, William Hilgendorf, Robin Gardiner, Victoria Martine, and Timothy C. Baumgartner have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

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Giannopoulos, S., AbuHasan, Q., Connors, J.D.N. et al. Patients’ perspectives on weight recurrence after bariatric surgery: a single-center survey. Surg Endosc 38, 2252–2259 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-023-10664-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-023-10664-z

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