Abstract
BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of > 60 kg/m2 should be offered expedited Bariatric Surgery (BS) during the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The main objective of this study was to assess the safety of this approach.
METHODS: We conducted a global study of patients who underwent BS between 1/05/2020 and 31/10/2020. Patients were divided into three groups according to their preoperative BMI - Group I (BMI<50 kg/m2), Group II (BMI 50-60 kg/m2), and Group III (BMI>60 kg/m2). The effect of preoperative BMI on 30-day morbidity and mortality, procedure choice, COVID-19 specific safety protocols, and comorbidities was assessed.
RESULTS: This study included 7084 patients (5197;73.4 % females). The mean preoperative weight and BMI were 119.49 ± 24.4 Kgs and 43.03 ± 6.9 Kg/m2, respectively. Group I included 6024 (85 %) patients, whereas Groups II and III included 905 (13 %) and 155 (2 %) patients, respectively. The 30-day mortality rate was higher in Group III (p = 0.001). The complication rate and COVID-19 infection were not different. Comorbidities were significantly more likely in Group III (p = <0.001). A significantly higher proportion of patients in group III received Sleeve Gastrectomy or One Anastomosis Gastric Bypass compared to other groups. Patients with a BMI of > 70 kg/m2 had a 30-day mortality of 7.7 % (2/26). None of these patients underwent a Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass.
CONCLUSION: The 30-day mortality rate was significantly higher in patients with BMI > 60 kg/m2. There was, however, no significant difference in complications rates in different BMI groups, probably due to differences in procedure selection.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 249-253 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Obesity Research and Clinical Practice |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 8 Jun 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 20 Jun 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.Keywords
- Bariatric Surgery/adverse effects
- Body Mass Index
- COVID-19/epidemiology
- Female
- Gastrectomy/methods
- Gastric Bypass/adverse effects
- Humans
- Laparoscopy/methods
- Male
- Obesity, Morbid/complications
- Pandemics
- Retrospective Studies
- Treatment Outcome
- Weight Loss