Systematic review and meta-analysis of medium-term outcomes after banded Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis focused exclusively on intermediate-term outcomes for the banded Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (B-RYGB). B-RYGB articles published from 1990 to 2013 were identified through MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, and SpringerLink databases augmented by manual reference review. Articles were assigned an evidence level (Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine [Oxford UK] criteria) and Jadad quality score (randomized controlled trials). Simple and weighted means (95% confidence interval (CI)) for excess weight loss (EWL) at follow-up (1-10+ years) were calculated. At 5 years, a pooled estimate for BMI (kg/m(2)) change (weighted mean difference and 95% CI) for banded bypass patients was computed. Rates for weighted mean complications, non-band- and band-related reoperations, and overall comorbidity resolution were calculated. Three hundred twenty-one articles were identified: 286 failed inclusion criteria (i.e., non-English, B-RYGB unrelated, <10 per arm, <3-year follow-up), leaving 35 articles. Manual review added 10 potentially relevant articles; 30 that failed inclusion criteria were excluded, leaving 15 for analysis. B-RYGB was performed on 8,707 patients: 79.0% female, mean age 38.7, and BMI 47.6 (41.0-59.4). Overall BMI weighted mean difference (reduction) at 5 years was 17.8 (95% CI 12.8, 22.7; p < 0.001). Five-year weighted mean EWL of 72.5% (67.5, 77.4) was sustained at 10+ years (69.4%; 58.9, 80.0). Weighted mean complication rates were as follows: early, 10.9%, and late, 20.0%. Non-band-related reoperation rate was 15.2%, and band-specific reoperation rate was 4.1%. Gastric outlet stenosis, band erosion, and band slippage were 2.8, 2.3, and 1.5%, respectively. Diabetes remitted in 80/95 (84.2%). By systematic review and meta-analysis, albeit with limited rates of follow-up, B-RYGB appeared to result in significant, sustained excess weight loss of approximately 70.0% out to 10 years.