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Is Bariatric Surgery Better than Nonsurgical Weight Loss for Improving Asthma Control? A Systematic Review

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Abstract

Obesity is associated with increased severity of asthma. Bariatric surgery can be effective in weight loss and improvement in asthma. Two reviewers conducted a systematic review using search terms: ‘weight loss’, ‘bariatric surgery’, and ‘asthma’. Adult studies including all bariatric procedures and nonsurgical weight loss regimes were included. Thirty-nine studies, including twenty-six bariatric studies and thirteen nonsurgical studies, were found. No study directly compared bariatric surgery to nonsurgical techniques. Bariatric surgery offered greater weight loss (22–36%) than nonsurgical programmes (4.1–14.2%) and more consistently improved medication use, airway hyperresponsiveness, hospitalisation rate or ED attendance and lung function, while change in inflammatory markers were variable. Bariatric surgery appears to be superior in treating asthma; however, further study on surgery for both mild and severe asthma is required.

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  1. Department of General Surgery, University Hospital Lewisham, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, Lewisham High Street, London, SE13 6LH, UK

    Naveed Hossain, Chanpreet Arhi & Cynthia-Michelle Borg

  2. Department of General Surgery, Whittington Hospital, Whittington Health NHS Trust, Magdala Avenue, London, N19 5NF, UK

    Naveed Hossain

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Naveed Hossain and Chanpreet Arhi. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Naveed Hossain, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Hossain, N., Arhi, C. & Borg, CM. Is Bariatric Surgery Better than Nonsurgical Weight Loss for Improving Asthma Control? A Systematic Review. OBES SURG 31, 1810–1832 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-021-05255-7

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