How Does Fat Mass Change in the First Year After Bariatric Surgery? A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the time-course effect of different type of bariatric surgeries (BS) up to 1 year post-surgery on fat mass (FM) and body fat percentage (BFP) in patients with morbid obesity. We searched PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, ISI web of science, and Cochrane databases from October 2002 until May 2020 with no restriction in the English language, to find studies examining the effect of BS on FM (kg) and BFP (%) in morbid obese patients. Meta-analysis of 103 studies carried out on data of 18,166 and 14,575 morbid obese patients following BS, showed that BS was associated with a substantial decrease in FM and BFP, respectively, in 1 month (- 8.17 kg [95% CI - 9.07, - 7.27] and - 1.51% [95% CI - 2.56, - 0.46]), 3 months (- 15.75 [95% CI - 17.49, - 14.0] and - 4.90 [95% CI - 5.97, - 3.83]), 6 months (- 22.51 [95% CI - 23.93, - 21.09] and - 8.56% [95% CI - 9.63, - 7.49]), and 12 months (- 29.69 [95% CI - 31.3, - 28.09] and - 13.49% [95% CI - 14.52, - 12.40]) after the surgery. In conclusion, BS was associated with sustained declines in FM and BFP, from 1 to 12 months, with no indication of plateau phase post-surgery post-operatively. The present study emphasizes that post-bariatric care should have more focus on FM loss during 1-year post-surgery to identify the patients at risk for fat loss plateau.