Effects of sleeve gastrectomy on populations with obesity and obstructive sleep apnea: a meta-analysis

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is highly prevalent in patients with morbid obesity, prompting interest in bariatric surgery as a potential management strategy. Sleeve gastrectomy (SG), being the primary bariatric surgical option, offers simplicity, reduced postoperative complications, and favorable outcomes for obesity and its associated conditions.

This study aims to assess the efficacy of SG in treating populations with obesity and OSA.

University-affiliated hospital, China.

We conducted a comprehensive literature search across PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases to identify pertinent studies published up to March 28, 2024. Our review encompassed studies that assessed the effectiveness of SG on primary outcomes, including the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), as well as secondary outcomes such as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), nonrapid eye movement sleep stage 3 (NREM 3), rapid eye movement sleep (REM), sleep efficiency (SE), arousal index, Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), oxygen desaturation index (ODI), apnea index (AI), meanSpO2, body mass index (BMI), weight, neck circumference (NC), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), subcutaneous fat area (SFA), visceral fat area (VFA), systolic blood pressure(SBP)/diastolic blood pressure(DBP), and measurements related to glucolipid metabolism. A total of 12 eligible studies underwent a systematic screening process and were subsequently subjected to meta-analysis using either randomized effects model or fixed-effect models.

Significant reductions in AHI, BMI, weight, SFA, and VFA were observed following SG. Correspondingly, enhancements in FVC, meanSpO2, NREM 3%, REM%, and SE, were noted after SG. Additionally, the populations with obesity and OSA exhibited decreases in arousal index, ODI, AI, ESS, NC, WC, WHR, and DBP post-SG. Moreover, reductions in HOMA-IR and glycosylated hemoglobin were also observed after SG.

SG demonstrates favorable outcomes in the populations with obesity and OSA.