Utilization of hospital services by obese patients before and after bariatric surgery

Clinical outcomes and adverse events of bariatric surgery in adults with severe obesity in Scotland: the SCOTS observational cohort study

Background

Bariatric surgery is a common procedure worldwide for the treatment of severe obesity and associated comorbid conditions but there is a lack of evidence as to medium-term safety and effectiveness outcomes in a United Kingdom setting.

Objective

To establish the clinical outcomes and adverse events of different bariatric surgical procedures, their impact on quality of life and the effect on comorbidities.

Design

Prospective observational cohort study.

Setting

National Health Service secondary care and private practice in Scotland, United Kingdom.

Participants

Adults (age >16 years) undergoing their first bariatric surgery procedure.

Main outcome measures

Change in weight, hospital length of stay, readmission and reoperation rate, mortality, diabetes outcomes (HbA1c, medications), quality of life, anxiety, depression.

Data sources

Patient-reported outcome measures, hospital records, national electronic health records (Scottish Morbidity Record 01, Scottish Care Information Diabetes, National Records Scotland, Prescription Information System).

Results

Between December 2013 and February 2017, 548 eligible patients were approached and 445 participants were enrolled in the study. Of those, 335 had bariatric surgery and 1 withdrew from the study. Mean age was 46.0 (9.2) years, 74.7% were female and the median body mass index was 46.4 (42.4; 52.0) kg/m2. Weight was available for 128 participants at 3 years: mean change was -19.0% (±14.1) from the operation and -24.2% (±12.8) from the start of the preoperative weight-management programme. One hundred and thirty-nine (41.4%) participants were readmitted to hospital in the same or subsequent 35 months post surgery, 18 (5.4% of the operated cohort) had a reoperation or procedure considered to be related to bariatric surgery gastrointestinal complications or revisions. Fewer than five participants (<2%) died during follow-up. HbA1c was available for 93/182 and diabetes medications for 139/182 participants who had type 2 diabetes prior to surgery; HbA1c mean change was -5.72 (±16.71) (p = 0.001) mmol/mol and 65.5% required no diabetes medications (p < 0.001) at 3 years post surgery. Physical quality of life, available for 101/335 participants, improved in the 3 years post surgery, mean change in Rand 12-item Short Form Survey physical component score 8.32 (±8.95) (p < 0.001); however, there was no change in the prevalence of anxiety or depression.

Limitations

Due to low numbers of bariatric surgery procedures in Scotland, recruitment was stopped before achieving the intended 2000 participants and follow-up was reduced from 10 years to 3 years.

Conclusions

Bariatric surgery is a safe and effective treatment for obesity. Patients in Scotland, UK, appear to be older and have higher body mass than international comparators, which may be due to the small number of procedures performed.

Future work

Intervention studies are required to identify the optimal pre- and post surgery pathway to maximise safety and cost-effectiveness.

Study registration

This study is registered as ISRCTN47072588.

Funding details

This award was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR award ref: 10/42/02) and is published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 28, No. 7. See the NIHR Funding and Awards website for further award information.

Comparative analysis between patients undergoing Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastroplasty in a private hospital in Sao Luis-MA

PURPOSE

To compare the satisfaction levels about the surgery and anesthesia management, and to analyze the postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastroplasty surgeries in a private hospital in Sao Luís-MA.

METHODS

The sample consisted of patients undergoing Bypass and Sleeve bariatric surgeries from August 2018 to August 2019, who were in the range of 18 and 70 years old and had not used drugs or presented cardiac arrhythmias, dilated cardiomyopathy, and conduction disorder heart. Data were collected from the evaluation forms and recorded in a form with closed questions.

RESULTS

Most patients were female (Bypass - 56% and Sleeve - 67.4%) and aged between 30 and 39 years old (Bypass - 32% and Sleeve - 55.8%). Information (Bypass - 92% and Sleeve - 86.1%) was the highest satisfaction index found. Sleepiness in the immediate postoperative period (Bypass - 92% and Sleeve - 93%) was the main side effect. There were no postoperative complications in patients between the two types of surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients submitted to Bypass and Sleeve were completely satisfied with the perioperative management. There was no statistically significant difference when comparing adverse effects between the techniques.

Hospital utilization 4 years after bariatric surgery: sleeve gastrectomy versus Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

BACKGROUND

While sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has lower perioperative risk compared with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), long-term data about their differential impact on overall health are unclear. Hospital use after bariatric surgery is an important parameter for improving peri- and postoperative care.

OBJECTIVE

This present study was aimed to compare SG and RYGB in terms of their effect on long-term hospital-based healthcare utilization.

SETTING

Multicenter, statewide database.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study of adult patients who underwent SG and RYGB between 2009 and 2011, with follow-up until 2015 and 2-year presurgery information. Propensity score-matched SG and RYGB groups were created using preoperative demographic characteristics, co-morbidities, and presurgery hospital use, measured by cumulative length of stay (LOS) and frequency of emergency department visits. Postsurgery yearly LOS, incidence of hospital visits, and the reason for the visit were compared. Primary outcomes included postoperative hospital visits during years 1 to 4 after bariatric surgery and cumulative LOS. Secondary outcomes included specific reasons for hospital use.

RESULTS

There were 3540 SG and 13,587 RYGB patients, whose mean (95% confidence interval [CI]) LOS was 1.3 (1.3-1.4), .9 (.8-1), 1 (.9-1.1), and 1.2 (1-1.3) days at years 1 through 4, respectively. Postoperative yearly LOS was similar between the 2 propensity-matched groups. The risk of hospitalizations (odd ratio .73, 95% CI .64-.84, P < .0001) and emergency department visits (odds ratio .84, 95% CI .75-.95, P = .005) was significantly lower for SG, during the first postoperative year. The reverse was seen at the fourth postoperative year, with higher risk of emergency department use after SG (odds ratio 1.16, 95% CI 1.01-1.33, P = .035).

CONCLUSION

Postoperative 4-year hospital utilization remains low for both SG and RYGB. The previously established lower early perioperative risk of SG was not appreciated for longer-term hospital use compared with RYGB.

Rates and reasons for emergency department presentations of patients wait-listed for public bariatric surgery in Tasmania, Australia

BACKGROUND

Demand for bariatric surgery in the public hospital setting in Australia is high with prolonged wait-list times. Policy-makers need to consider the consequences of expanding public bariatric surgery including on emergency department (ED) presentations.

AIMS

To describe and evaluate public ED presentation rates and reasons for presenting in a cohort of patients wait-listed for public surgery.

METHODS

All Tasmanians placed on the public wait-list for primary bariatric surgery in 2008-2013 were identified using administrative datasets along with their ED presentations in 2000-2014. The presentations were assigned to one of three periods: before wait-list placement, whilst on the wait-list, and after wait-list removal for publicly-funded surgery or drop-out. A negative binomial mixed-effects regression model was used to derive ED presentation incidence rate ratios (IRR) to compare observation periods and patient groups.

RESULTS

652 wait-listed patients had 5149 public ED presentations. 178 patients had publicly-funded bariatric surgery - all as laparoscopically adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). Overall, ED presentation rates did not change significantly post-surgery compared with the waiting period (IRR 1.19, 95%CI 0.90-1.56). Presentation rates significantly increased for digestive system (IRR 2.02, 95%CI 1.19-3.45) and psychiatric diseases (IRR 4.85, 95%CI 1.06-22.26) after surgery. The likelihood of being admitted from the ED significantly increased after surgery (31.7%-38.9%, p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

ED presentations were common for patients wait-listed for public bariatric surgery and rates did not decrease over an average of three years post-LAGB. The likelihood of being admitted to the hospital from the ED increased after surgery.

Diverse approaches to the health economic evaluation of bariatric surgery: a comprehensive systematic review

BACKGROUND

Health economic evaluations inform healthcare resource allocation decisions for treatment options for obesity including bariatric/metabolic surgery. As an important advance on existing systematic reviews, we aimed to capture, summarize and synthesize a diverse range of economic evaluations on bariatric surgery.

METHODS

Studies were identified by electronic screening of all major biomedical/economic databases. Studies included if they reported any quantified health economic cost and/or consequence with a measure of effect for any type of bariatric surgery from 1995 to September 2015. Study screening, data extraction and synthesis followed international guidelines for systematic reviews.

RESULTS

Six thousand one hundred eighty-seven studies were initially identified. After two levels of screening, 77 studies representing 17 countries (56% USA) were included. Despite study heterogeneity, common themes emerged, and important gaps were identified. Most studies adopted the healthcare system/third-party payer perspective; reported costs were generally healthcare resource use (inpatient/shorter-term outpatient). Out-of-pocket costs to individuals, family members (travel time, caregiving) and indirect costs due to lost productivity were largely ignored. Costs due to reoperations/complications were not included in one-third of studies. Body-contouring surgery included in only 14%. One study evaluated long-term waitlisted patients. Surgery was cost-effective/cost-saving for severely obese with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Study quality was inconsistent.

DISCUSSION

There is a need for studies that assume a broader societal perspective (including out-of-pocket costs, costs to family and productivity losses) and longer-term costs (capture reoperations/complications, waiting, body contouring), and consequences (health-related quality-of-life). Full economic evaluation underpinned by reporting standards should inform prioritization of patients (e.g. type 2 diabetes mellitus with body mass index 30 to 34.9 kg/m(2) or long-term waitlisted) for surgery. © 2016 World Obesity.

Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in obese Korean patients: efficacy and potential adverse events

PURPOSE

This study aimed to evaluate the medium-term efficacy and adverse events of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) performed at a single center in Korea.

METHODS

The records of 412 consecutive patients who underwent LRYGB between January 2011 and February 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. The preoperative demographics, surgical outcomes, and follow-up data including anthropometrics indices and late complications were analyzed.

RESULTS

The mean preoperative body mass index was 38.0 ± 5.8 kg/m(2) and 338 patients (82.0 %) had at least one obesity-related comorbidity. Seven patients (1.7 %) developed severe complications requiring invasive intervention or reoperation. The %EWL of the eligible patients was 63.1, 74.3, 79.2, 65.4, and 89.8 % at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months, respectively. Diabetes was resolved in 63.5 % of the followed up patients. Twenty-two out of 256 patients (8.6 %) with available follow-up data failed to achieve  %EWL ≥50 % by 12 months after the surgery. The most frequent late complications were marginal ulcers (24.5 %) and anemia (18.0 %).

CONCLUSION

LRYGB achieves excellent weight loss and significant short- to medium-term comorbidity resolution in Korean obese patients with acceptable perioperative risks. However, late complications including marginal ulcers and nutritional deficiencies are not negligible. Therefore, regular and lifelong surveillance is mandatory in patients undergoing LRYGB.