Prevalence and risk factors for symptoms suggestive of hypoglycemia and early dumping syndrome after sleeve gastrectomy

Background: Postprandial hypoglycemia and early dumping syndrome are common complications after bariatric surgery. Although sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has become a primary option for many bariatric surgeons, limited information was available for the prevalence and risk factors of the complications.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and possible risk factors for postprandial hypoglycemia and early dumping syndrome based on self-reported symptoms of SG patients.

Setting: The study was conducted at a bariatric surgery center in a university hospital.

Methods: In this study, all patients who underwent an SG (n = 222) between December 2011 and May 2018 in our center were invited to participate in a questionnaire survey. The Edinburgh Hypoglycemia Scoring System and the Dumping Symptom Rating Scale were used to evaluate symptoms, and clinical data of the patients were collected. The median follow-up time was 1.1 years.

Results: The questionnaire was completed and returned by 54.95% (122/222) of the patients and 62.30% (76/122) of the responders were women. The prevalence rates of mild and moderate symptoms suggestive of hypoglycemia were 65.57% (80/122) and .82%, respectively. An associated risk factor was younger age (adjusted for sex, body mass index, and waist circumference at baseline: odds ratio 3.69; 95% confidence interval [1.22-11.21]), but this association disappeared after further adjustment of low-density protein cholesterol (LDL-C) (odds ratio 6.42; 95% confidence interval [.38-108],;P > .05). The prevalence rate of mild symptoms suggestive of early dumping was 40.98% (50/122), associated risk factor was lower LDL-C.

Conclusion: Mild-to-moderate symptoms suggestive of hypoglycemia and early dumping syndrome were common in patients after SG, with the prevalence rates of 66.39% (81/122) and 40.98% (50/122), respectively. Patients with both symptoms suggestive of early dumping syndrome and hypoglycemia accounted for 33.61% (41/122) of all patients. Younger age indicated higher risk of hypoglycemia after SG and lower LDL-C may play an important role in this relationship. Lower LDL-C was associated with higher risk of early dumping syndrome after SG.