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Impact of Routine and Long-Term Follow-Up on Weight Loss after Bariatric Surgery

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Abstract

Background

Weight loss after bariatric surgery varies among patients. Patients who do not complete long-term follow-up are considered to loose less weight than those with regular follow-up visits.

Objective

To evaluate the influence of patients’ follow-up compliance on long-term excess weight loss (%EWL) and total weight loss (%TWL) after bariatric surgery, comparing results between gastric bypass (GB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG).

Methods

Patients with up to 5 years of follow-up data after bariatric surgery were included in this retrospective analysis. Patients were divided in 2 groups: those in group 1 who had attended every scheduled postoperative appointment and those in group 2 who had been lost to follow-up before 1 year and were later contacted by telephone. %EWL and %TWL were compared to determine the possible relationship between type of surgery and regularity of the follow-up.

Results

A total of 385 patients were included. A significant difference in EWL was observed at 5 years in the SG group (78% for group 1 versus 39% for group 2; p = 0.02) and GB group (75% for group 1 versus 62% for group 2; p = 0.01). No significant differences between surgeries were found when comparing long-term EWL in group 1 patients 77% for SG versus 75% for GB. For group 2 patients, GB achieved greater EWL than SG; p = 0.005. %TWL patients in group 2 showed significant differences in all periods of study (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Bariatric surgery patients who attended all scheduled follow-up appointments experienced significantly greater long-term EWL and TWL than those who did not. GB has apparent increased benefits for weight loss in long-term follow-up when compared with SG for patients who did not attend long-term follow-up. Therefore, continued long-term follow-up of bariatric patients should be encouraged to increase postoperative weight loss results.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Leire Alegria from the Institute of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in the Universidad de Navarra for her assistance in the Materials and Methods section with the statistical analysis.

We acknowledge the Nurses of General Surgery of the University Clinic of Navarra for its contribution with special mention to Maria Molina.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department General Surgery, Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Avenida Pio XII 36, 31008, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    J. Lujan, C. Tuero, J. A. Cienfuegos, F. Rotellar, F. Lapuente, P. Martínez & Victor Valenti

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    M. F. Landecho

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    R. Moncada

  4. Department of Endocrinology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    R. Moncada, J. A. Cienfuegos, F. Rotellar, C. Silva, G. Frühbeck & Victor Valenti

  5. CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    R. Moncada, G. Frühbeck & Victor Valenti

  6. Obesity and Adipobiology Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, Spain

    C. Silva & G. Frühbeck

Authors
  1. J. Lujan
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  2. C. Tuero
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  3. M. F. Landecho
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  4. R. Moncada
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  5. J. A. Cienfuegos
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  6. F. Rotellar
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  7. C. Silva
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  8. F. Lapuente
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  9. P. Martínez
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  10. G. Frühbeck
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  11. Victor Valenti
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victor Valenti.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Lujan, J., Tuero, C., Landecho, M.F. et al. Impact of Routine and Long-Term Follow-Up on Weight Loss after Bariatric Surgery. OBES SURG 30, 4293–4299 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-020-04788-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-020-04788-7

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