Successful Weight Loss After Sleeve Gastrectomy: Sex Matters

Daliya B AlMohammad Ali¹, Sulaiman Almazeedi¹, Salman Al-sabah¹, Ahmed Al-serri². ¹Amiri Hospital, ²Kuwait University

Introduction

A common dispute within bariatric surgery is inconsistencies in achieving adequate weight loss. Many factors may play a role, and this paper aims to observe some of the predictors of successful excess weight loss post-sleeve gastrectomy.

Methods

190 women and 78 men underwent sleeve gastrectomy in Al-Amiri Hospital in Kuwait, with weight measurements taken at 2 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after surgery. Two groups were created, those that achieved > 50% excess weight loss (%EWL) compared to those < 50% EWL one year post-op. The variables investigated were age, sex, pre-surgical BMI, and follow-up appointment attendance.

Results

The mean age of participants in this study was 33.98 (SD = 12.04 years), and the majority were female (71%). The mean BMI was 47.32 kg/m2 (SD = 9.8 kg/m2) Age, male gender, pre-surgical BMI, and more frequent follow-up appointment attendance were all significant predictors of achieving > 50% EWL at 12 months (Table 1). Pre-surgical BMI appeared to be the strongest predictor variable with an OR of 0.93 (95% CI 0.89-0.96), p<0.001. Our data showed no statistical differences (P>0.05) between mean age of females (34.5 ± 11.8 years) and males (32.5 ± 12.5 years). There was similar follow-up attendance between males and females 63% and 68% respectively (p>0.05).

Table 1: Binary Logistic regression analysis of predictors of % EWL (< 50% vs > 50%) at 12 months (2012-2013)

Conclusion

It is evident that numerous factors contribute to whether or not bariatric patients attain successful weight loss post-operatively. Younger age, male gender, lower pre-surgical BMI and more frequent follow-ups all seem to be important predictors of patients achieving >50% EWL in 12 months after sleeve gastrectomy.