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The Outcome of Bariatric Surgery in Patients Aged 75 years and Older

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Abstract

Background

Bariatric surgery has been shown to be safe and effective in patients aged 60–75 years; however, outcomes in patients aged 75 or older are undocumented.

Methods

Patients aged 75 years and older who underwent bariatric procedures in two academic centers between 2006 and 2015 were studied.

Results

A total of 19 patients aged 75 years and above were identified. Eleven (58%) were male, the median age was 76 years old (range 75–81), and the median preoperative body mass index (BMI) was 41.4 kg/m2 (range 35.8–57.5). All of the bariatric procedures were primary procedures and performed laparoscopically: sleeve gastrectomy (SG) (n = 11, 58%), adjustable gastric band (AGB) (n = 4, 21%), Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) (n = 2, 11%), banded gastric plication (n = 1, 5%), and gastric plication (n = 1, 5%). The median operative time was 120 min (range 75–240), and the median length of stay was 2 days (range 1–7). Three patients (16%) developed postoperative atrial fibrillation which completely resolved at discharge. At 1 year, the median percentage of total weight loss (%TWL) was 18.4% (range 7.4–22.0). The 1-year %TWL varied among the bariatric procedures performed: SG (21%), RYGB (22%), AGB (7%), and gastric plication (8%). There were no 30-day readmissions, reoperations, or mortalities.

Conclusion

Our experience suggests that bariatric surgery in selected patients aged 75 years and older would be safe and effective despite being higher risk. Age alone should not be the limiting factor for selecting patients for bariatric surgery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Zubaidah Nor Hanipah, Suriya Punchai, Linden A. Karas, Stacy A. Brethauer, Ali Aminian & Philip R. Schauer

  2. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Zubaidah Nor Hanipah

  3. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

    Suriya Punchai

  4. Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, Department of General Surgery, Cleveland Clinic, Weston, FL, USA

    Samuel Szomstein & Rahul J. Rosenthal

Authors
  1. Zubaidah Nor Hanipah
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  2. Suriya Punchai
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  3. Linden A. Karas
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  4. Samuel Szomstein
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  5. Rahul J. Rosenthal
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  6. Stacy A. Brethauer
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  7. Ali Aminian
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  8. Philip R. Schauer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip R. Schauer.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Schauer has the following relationships:

  • Advisory Board: The Medicines Company, GI Dynamics, Neurotronic, Pacira

  • Consultant: Ethicon, The Medicines Company, Novo Nordisk

  • Research Support: Ethicon, National Institutes of Health, Medtronic, Pacira

Dr. Rosenthal has the following relationships:

  • Educational grants: Karl Storz, Medtronics and Ethicon

  • Advisory board: Ethicon

Otherwise, the rest of the authors have no conflict of interest and nothing to disclose.

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.

Informed Consent

For this retrospective study, formal consent is not required.

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Nor Hanipah, Z., Punchai, S., Karas, L.A. et al. The Outcome of Bariatric Surgery in Patients Aged 75 years and Older. OBES SURG 28, 1498–1503 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-017-3020-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-017-3020-z

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