Effect of pre-operative weight loss on patients' outcomes undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy

The study aims to demonstrate whether weight loss with a low-calorie diet before laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) may affect the outcomes.

A total of 305 patients undergoing primary LSG were included in the study. Each patient adopted a low-calorie diet (1000 calories) before LSG. The patients were stratified into two groups. Group A: Those who lost 3% or more of their total body weight loss (TBWL), Group B: Those who lost <3% of their TBWL. Two groups were compared in terms of operative time, length of hospital stay, complications and weight loss outcomes.

One hundred and five patients (35%) were in Group A and 200 patients were in Group B. Median weight loss was 4 kg (3-20 kg). Pre-operative mean body mass index (BMI) was 40 ± 7.4 kg/m² in Group A and 41 ± 5.9 kg/m² in Group B (P = 0.06). At 1 year after the surgery, BMI regressed to 29.7 ± 4.9 kg/m² in Group A and to 27 ± 4.2 kg/m² in Group B (P < 0.001). One hundred and twenty-nine patients who completed 2 years of follow-up, mean BMI regressed to 29.4 ± 4.1 kg/m² in Group A (n = 46) and to 27.2 ± 4.5 kg/m² in Group B (n = 83) (P < 0.001). In Group B, one patient experienced post-operative bleeding. No other complications were observed in the study. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of operative time (P = 0.53) and length of hospital stay (P = 0.9).

Weight loss before LSG does not improve post-operative weight loss.