Bariatric Surgery Outcomes in Patients with Severe Obesity Compared to Patients with Non-Severe Obesity at A New Institution in The United Arab Emirates

• Published in: Journal of clinical medicine Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 1907
• Main Authors: DeCicco, Jamie P, Barajas-Gamboa, Juan S, Dang, Jerry T, Diaz Del Gobbo, Gabriel, Raza, Javed, Abril, Carlos, Guerron, Alfredo D, Pantoja, Juan Pablo, Hegazin, Safa Botros, Corcelles, Ricard, Rodriguez, John, Kroh, Matthew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Abdomen; Anesthesiology; Body mass index; Care and treatment; Diagnosis; Gastrointestinal surgery; Lifestyles; Medical records; Morbidity; Mortality; Obesity; Patient outcomes; Patients; Postoperative period; Surgery; Weight control; United Arab Emirates; weight loss; Roux-en-Y gastric bypass; bariatric surgery; sleeve gastrectomy; non-super obesity; super obesity
• ISSN: 2077-0383; 2077-0383
• DOI: 10.3390/jcm13071907

Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for weight loss, but a higher body mass index (BMI) may lead to higher postoperative complication rates. This study aims to compare perioperative and postoperative outcomes between UAE patients with severe obesity (SO) [BMI ≥ 50 kg/m ] and non-severe obesity (NSO) [BMI < 50 kg/m ] undergoing primary bariatric surgery. : From September 2015 to July 2019, 542 patients, 94 SO (56.5 ± 6.2 kg/m ) and 448 NSO (41.8 ± 4.1 kg/m ), were retrospectively reviewed. : Patients with SO were younger (33.8 ± 13.4 vs. 37.0 ± 11.5 years, = 0.02) but otherwise had similar demographic characteristics. Their rates of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (39.4% SO vs. 44.4% NSO, = 0.37) and sleeve gastrectomy (60.6% vs. 55.6%, = 0.37) were similar. There were no differences between perioperative complications (6.4% SO vs. 5.8% NSO, = 0.83), major postoperative complications (5.3% vs. 3.5%, = 0.42), readmissions (5.3% vs. 3.3%, = 0.36), or reoperations (3.2% vs. 2.7%, = 0.78). There were no mortalities. Their total body weight loss was comparable at 12 months (28.1 ± 10.2% vs. 29.0 ± 7.7%, = 0.58). : Although a higher BMI may pose operative challenges, UAE patients with SO do not have worsened outcomes in bariatric surgery, demonstrating similarly low morbidity to patients with NSO, and similar rates of improvement in their BMI.