Metabolic syndrome remission after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy

Bariatric surgery is known to decrease weight and the prevalence of comorbidities, but there is little evidence on the differential effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) on the remission of the aggregate outcome, metabolic syndrome, 4 years after surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of RYGB and SG on metabolic syndrome in veterans.

We retrospectively reviewed consecutive patients who underwent SG and RYGB at the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 2003 to 2012. We determined the effect of both the operations on the remission of metabolic syndrome, its individual components, and medium-term morbidity and mortality. A sensitivity analysis was performed using propensity matching.

A total of 266 patients were identified (159 RYGB and 107 SG) with 96% follow-up after 4 years. The mean age of the cohort was 51.4 years; the majority of patients were male (59%) and Caucasian (69%). RYGB patients had a greater mean body mass index and were more likely to have hypertension or hypertriglyceridemia. RYGB was associated with a similar metabolic syndrome remission to SG (37.6% vs 26.8%; P=0.09). The percentage of weight loss was 26.5% after RYGB and 10.8% after SG at 4 years post operation (P<0.01). Predictors of metabolic syndrome persistence were male gender, type 2 diabetes, and low high-density lipoprotein. While both the operations were associated with similar mortality (RYGB 4.4%, SG 2.8%; P=0.74), RYGB was associated with a greater rate of morbidity.

RYGB and SG seem to be associated with similar remission rates of metabolic syndrome at 4 years. RYGB yields greater weight loss with greater medium-term complications.