Racial Disparities in Outcomes of Bariatric Surgery: An Analysis of 190,319 Patients

Bariatric surgery has been increasingly utilized to reduce weight, manage obesity related morbidities, and improve quality of life. Racial discrepancies in surgical outcomes have been demonstrated across various surgical disciplines including bariatric surgery. However, studies have been limited to certain procedures, institutional data, or geographic-specific data.

Our aim is to investigate racial disparities in outcomes of bariatric surgery using the American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database.

Preoperative information and postoperative results and complications were analyzed between January 2008 and December 2021. Statistical analysis was conducted to compare patients' characteristics and clinically relevant outcomes between the different racial groups.

A total of 190,319 patients were included. The majority were White (81.4%) and females (79.8%), with a mean age of 44.7 years. After controlling for relevant demographic and preoperative characteristics, the Black group had higher length of hospital stay (odds ratio [OR] = 1.36 [1.23; 1.50]), higher 30 days postoperative mortality (OR = 1.80 [1.25; 2.60]), higher odds of unplanned readmission (OR = 1.40 [1.31; 1.50]), pulmonary embolism (OR = 2.23 [1.75; 2.85]), acute renal failure (OR = 1.25 [0.87; 1.79]).

Disparities exist between racial groups undergoing bariatric surgery. Additional studies are needed to further investigate these findings and their potential implications.