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Nutritional Deficiencies Before and After Bariatric Surgery: Prevention and Treatment

  • Diabetes and Obesity (M Dalamaga and F Magkos, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Nutrition Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Bariatric surgery has the unique ability to drive substantial and sustainable weight loss in people living with obesity. Non-reversibility of these surgical techniques provides lifelong benefits but entails the need for continuous medical follow-up. The purpose of the current paper is to review and summarize current data on nutritional deficiencies in patients before and after bariatric surgery.

Recent Findings

The cornerstone of preventing the emergence of disorders related to nutritional deficiencies is preoperative screening and correct supplementation since they may be exacerbated postoperatively. Following guidelines in conjunction to a lifelong personalized medical approach is of high importance.

Summary

Bariatric surgery is a well-studied successful and durable means of weight loss that may lead to nutritional deficiencies. There is, thus, a medical need for careful monitoring and treatment of micro- and macronutrient deficiencies by an experienced multidisciplinary team.

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Fig. 1

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Abbreviations

BS:

Bariatric surgery

RYGB:

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

SG:

Sleeve gastrectomy

BPD:

Biliopancreatic diversion

BPD/DS:

Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch

BMI:

Body mass index

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Acknowledgements

Ms. Sofia K. Konstantinidou is indebted to the Onassis Foundation for supporting this work via the scholarship G ZO 011-1/ 2018-2019. We wish to express our deepest thanks to Katerina Sotiropoulou for kindly designing Fig. 1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes and Obesity Unit, Athens Medical Center, Athens, 15125, Greece

    Georgia Argyrakopoulou & Sofia K. Konstantinidou

  2. First Department of Propaedeutic Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Laiko General Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Sofia K. Konstantinidou & Alexander Kokkinos

  3. Department of Biological Chemistry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, 11527, Greece

    Maria Dalamaga

Authors
  1. Georgia Argyrakopoulou
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  2. Sofia K. Konstantinidou
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  3. Maria Dalamaga
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  4. Alexander Kokkinos
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Contributions

GA conceived and designed the review. GA, SKK, MD, and AK performed the literature review. All authors were involved in the preparation and revision of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Georgia Argyrakopoulou.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Argyrakopoulou, G., Konstantinidou, S.K., Dalamaga, M. et al. Nutritional Deficiencies Before and After Bariatric Surgery: Prevention and Treatment. Curr Nutr Rep 11, 95–101 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-022-00400-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-022-00400-9

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