Substantial Weight Loss Shown For Obese Patients Three Years After Surgery

A recent study published in Journal for American Medical Association showed that during 3-year follow-up visits after weight loss surgery, extreme weight loss was displayed. This especially occurred in patients who were deemed severely obese as a result of their body mass index number. Most of the weight loss occurred during the first year; however there was some changes in the amount of weight loss as a result of the patient’s diabetes diagnosis (if applicable), blood pressure reading (both before and after) and also lipid outcomes.

Typically patients who had a body mass index or BMI of over 35 showed the most weight loss. Few studies exist that report that weight loss can continue to occur at a dramatic rate after two years following bariatric surgery. Dr. Anita P. Courcoulas of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and some of her colleagues used information from the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery Consortium in order to study changes in weight after surgery.

This consortium is an observational study at 10 different hospitals in 6 centers across the United States. Their study looks at adults who are having their first weight loss surgery as a part of routine care from participating surgeons from 2006 to 2009 and follow-up until September 2012. Nearly 2,458 participants have been studied and have completed research assessments. 774 patients or 33% had diabetes, 1,252 or 63% had dyslipidemia (abnormal amount of lipids) and 1,601 or 68% had high blood pressure.

The researchers found that three years after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery or laparoscopic gastric banding, percent weight change and percent of those with diabetes both changed rapidly.

About the Study

The median BMI was 45.9 and median baseline weight was 284 pounds. 1,738 of the patients had roux-en-Y gastric bypass, 610 had laparoscopic gastric banding and 110 had other weight loss surgical procedures. The median weight loss was 31.5% of the baseline or 90 pounds for those who had gastric bypass and 15.9% or 44 pounds for gastric banding patients. Participants did experience the most weight loss during the first year after surgery, but weight loss did continue for three years and beyond in this study.
Nearly 67.5% of gastric bypass and 28.6% of gastric banding patients experienced diabetes remission. Also nearly 61.9% of gastric bypass patients and 27.1% of gastric banding patients saw remission in dyslipidemia. High blood pressure patients also saw remission rates high at 38.2% for gastric bypass and 17.4% for gastric banding.