Metabolic Bariatric Surgery in Older Patients: Is It Worth It? BARI-10-POL Study

The increasing prevalence of obesity and rising life expectancy have led to a growing need for metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) in older patients. While short-term outcomes are well documented, there is limited data on long-term outcomes comparing younger and older patients. This study aims to analyze 10-year outcomes after primary bariatric surgery in patients under 30 and over 60 years of age.  MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective, multicenter analysis was conducted as part of the BARI-10-POL project, including patients who underwent laparoscopic MBS in Poland between 2008 and 2014. Inclusion criteria were age under 30 or over 60 years at the time of surgery and at least 10 years of follow-up.

A total of 49 younger and 46 older patients were included. The most common procedure in both groups was sleeve gastrectomy. The percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL) was 59.3% in the younger group and 60.2% in the older group (p = 0.671), with percentage of total weight loss (%TWL) of 21.6% and 20.5% (p = 0.726), respectively. Older patients had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension, with remission rates of 52.8% and 40.5%, respectively, compared to 42.9% and 62.5% in younger patients (p = 0.302; p = 0.303). Complication rates were 2.0% in younger and 4.3% in the older group (p = 0.517), with no mortality observed in either group.

MBS seems to be effective and safe in long-term follow-up across different age groups. There were no statistical differences in weight loss or metabolic outcomes between younger and older patients.