Background: Bariatric surgery remains the most effective treatment for morbid obesity, and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) continues to be the preferred operation. However, data for long-term outcomes are lacking. Our goal was to determine the long-term clinical outcomes after LRYGB.
Methods: Retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database was conducted on all patients who underwent LRYGB from 2001-2006. Only patients who had postoperative clinic visits both at ≤2 and ≥5 years were included. Data collected included patient demographics and postoperative clinical outcomes, including percent excess weight loss (%EWL), complications, and improvement or resolution of preoperative comorbidities (type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, and hyperlipidemia). Data were analyzed by using SAS (version 9.2) and SPSS (version 16) statistical software.
Results: There were 770 patients who underwent LRYGB at UAB from 2001-2006. Of these, 172 patients met inclusion criteria (148 women and 24 men) with a median age of 41 years and median body mass index of 46 kg/m(2). Median short- and long-term follow-up was 12 and 75 months, respectively. Mean %EWL was 69% for short-term and 65% for long-term follow-up (P = 0.0032). Of 172 patients, 66 experienced 81 complications at a median of 26 months after operation. The improvement or resolution of comorbidities was maintained in the long-term, and there was no statistically significant difference compared with improvement or resolution in the short-term.
Conclusions: Although there was a statistically significant difference in %EWL between short- and long-term follow-up, both arms showed a clinically relevant %EWL (69 and 65%) and both were statistically significant compared with preoperative values. The improvement or resolution of comorbidities achieved with LRYGB was maintained in long-term follow-up. Thus, LRYGB resulted in significant improvement in clinical outcomes that were durable in the long term.