Outcomes and Management of Re-Establishing Bariatric Patients

Lifelong follow-up after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is necessary to monitor for patient outcomes and nutritional status. However, many patients do not routinely follow-up with their MBS team. We studied what prompted MBS patients to seek bariatric care after being lost to follow-up and the subsequent treatments they received.

A retrospective cohort study of patients after MBS who had discontinued regular MBS follow-up but represented to the MBS clinic between July 2018 and December 2022 to re-establish care. Patients with a history of a sleeve gastrectomy (SG), Roux-En-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), and adjustable gastric banding (AGB) were included.

We identified 400 patients (83.5% women, mean age 50.3 ± 12.2 years at the time of re-establishment of bariatric care), of whom 177 (44.3%) had RYGB, 154 (38.5%) had SG, and 69 (17.2%) had AGB. Overall, recurrent weight gain was the most common reason for presentation for all three procedures (81.2% in SG, 62.7% in RYGB, and 65.2% in AGB; p < 0.001). Patients who underwent SG were more likely to undergo a revision MBS compared with patients who underwent RYGB (16.9% vs 5.8%, p < 0.001), whereas patients who underwent RYGB were more likely to undergo an endoscopic intervention than patients who underwent SG (17.5% vs 7.8%, p < 0.001). The response to antiobesity medication agents, specifically glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists drugs, was better in patients who underwent RYGB, than that in patients who underwent SG.

This study highlights recurrent weight gain as the most common reason for patients after MBS seeking to re-establish care with the MBS team. SG had a higher rate of revision MBS than RYGB, whereas endoscopic interventions were performed more frequently in the RYGB group. Antiobesity medication agents, especially glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists drugs, were more effective in patients who underwent RYGB.