Prevalence and Risk Factors of Early Dumping Syndrome and Postprandial Hypoglycemia after Sleeve Gastrectomy: A...

Early dumping syndrome and postprandial hypoglycemia are common complications following sleeve gastrectomy. However, long-term studies are scarce.

We evaluated 122 sleeve gastrectomy patients who underwent surgery between December 2011 and May 2018. Symptoms were assessed using the Dumping Symptom Rating Scale and Edinburgh Hypoglycemia Scoring System questionnaire. Symptom severity was categorized as mild, moderate, or severe based on predefined scoring criteria. The median follow-up time was ~ 7 years.

Of 97 patients (79.5% follow-up rate), 59.8% reported early dumping symptoms and 64.9% had postprandial hypoglycemia at ~ 7 years post-surgery. At 1.1-year follow-up these rates were 41.0% and 66.4%, respectively, indicating an increase in dumping symptoms over time while hypoglycemia rates remained similar. Most symptoms were mild; no severe cases were observed. Over half (55.7%) of patients had both conditions. Higher baseline C-peptide (upper tertile > 3.24 ng/mL) was associated with significantly lower odds of both complications compared to the lowest tertile.

Early dumping syndrome symptoms may increase over time after sleeve gastrectomy, while hypoglycemia persists; higher C-peptide levels might be protective.