Comparative Effectiviness of Bariatric Procedures 2016
Comparative Effectiviness of Bariatric Procedures 2016
Comparative Effectiviness of Bariatric Procedures 2016
www.journals.elsevier.com/surgery-for-obesity-and-related-diseases/
PII: S1550-7289(16)00025-3
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2016.01.020
Reference: SOARD2547
Cite this article as: Jenny H. Lee PharmD, Quynh-Nhu Nguyen PharmD, BCACP, Quang
A. Le PharmD, PhD, Comparative Effectiveness of Three Bariatric Surgery Procedures:
Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band, and Sleeve
Gastrectomy, Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
soard.2016.01.020
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Comparative Effectiveness of Three Bariatric Surgery Procedures: Roux-en-Y
Jenny H. Lee, PharmDa, Quynh-Nhu Nguyen, PharmD, BCACPb, Quang A. Le, PharmD,
PhDa,b,*
a
Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California
b
Veterans Affairs Loma Linda Health Systems, Loma Linda, California
support provided by any source for this study. Primary findings of this study to be presented in
part at the ObesityWeek from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
1
ABSTRACT
Background: Bariatric surgery is associated with improved comorbidities, quality of life and
survival in severely obese patients. Common bariatric surgery procedures include Roux-en-Y
gastric bypass (RYGB), laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB), and sleeve gastrectomy
veterans is limited.
veterans.
Methods: This study was a single-institution, retrospective cohort study. Primary outcome was
weight reduction, expressed as kilogram lost, body mass index (BMI) reduction, percentage
weight loss (%WL), and percentage excess weight loss (%EWL) following 12 months of
bariatric surgery. Secondary outcomes were reduction in number of medications and laboratory
Results: A total of 162 patients were included in the study. At 12 months, the kilogram lost,
BMI reduction, %WL, and %EWL were 40.714.5kg, 13.44.1kg/m2, 31.58.5% and
41.411.6% for RYGB; 24.422.1kg, 7.97.3kg/m2, 20.221.5% and 26.727.6% for SG; and
15.315.7kg, 5.05.0kg/m2, 12.011.7% and 16.115.9% for LAGB, respectively (RYGB vs.
SG, RYGB vs. LAGB, and SG vs. LAGB, all Ps < 0.01). The reduction in number of
medications, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) also showed significant
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Conclusions: For short-term, RYGB appears to achieve better weight reduction and
procedures in veteran patients. SG could be the next alternative over LAGB for bariatric surgery
Introduction
Obesity has become a national epidemic, affecting people of all ethnicities, ages, and gender(1,2).
Approximately 35% or over 78 million of the adult population are considered to be obese in the
U.S.(1,2). Consequently, the increased prevalence of obesity has contributed to numerous and
varied comorbid conditions such as diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular diseases, gallbladder disease,
osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and certain types of cancer, as well as negative effect on quality of
life(2,3).
The effectiveness and safety of bariatric surgery have been well-established, especially in
patients with morbid obesity, in terms of weight reduction, obesity-associated comorbidities, and
quality of life(4-7). In addition, recent evidence has also shown bariatric surgery achieved better
long-term survival than non-surgery treatments(8-12). The most common bariatric surgery
procedures include Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), laparoscopic adjustable gastric band
(LAGB), and sleeve gastrectomy (SG). RYGB is a procedure that constructs a small pouch from
the proximal portion of the stomach attaching it directly to the small intestine. It bypasses part of
the stomach and duodenum. LAGB is a reversible procedure in which an inflatable band is
placed around the proximal part of the stomach to create a small pouch. The band can be
adjusted to increase or decrease restriction according to patients needs. SG is one of the newest
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surgical techniques which involves removing a large portion of the stomach. However, no
Studies have shown that RYGB, even though more invasive, has achieved better clinical
outcomes than the SG and LAGB procedures. However, there are few observational studies and
no randomized controlled trials that compare the effectiveness and management of obesity-
Different from the general population, the veteran population is unique in terms of gender ratio,
average age, and comorbid conditions. The primary objective of the current study was to
determine the comparative effectiveness of the three bariatric surgery procedures on weight
reduction in the U.S. veteran population. Our secondary objectives were to compare changes in
number of chronic medications and laboratory markers associated with obesity comorbidities
This study was a single-institution, retrospective cohort study at a Veterans Affairs (VA) medical
center with the specialty in bariatric surgery. Data collection was carried out by utilizing the VA
Computerized Patient Record System. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) committees from
the VA medical center as well as our institution have approved the study.
Patients
We initially identified patients if they had a bariatric surgery consultation. Patients who were 18
years of age or older and underwent bariatric surgery between August 1, 2006 and February 1,
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2014 at the VA medical center were included in the study. We excluded patients who received
Outcomes
The primary outcome was weight reduction, expressed as kilogram (kg) lost, Body Mass Index
(BMI) reduction, percentage weight loss (%WL), and percentage excess weight loss (%EWL)
following 6 and 12 months of bariatric surgery. The ideal body weight was defined as the median
weight for height of medium frame in the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tables(21).
Secondary outcomes were reduction in number of chronic medications prescribed and laboratory
with obesity included fasting blood glucose (mg/dL), HbA1C, total cholesterol (mg/dL), LDL
cholesterol (mg/dL), HDL cholesterol (mg/dL), triglycerides (mg/dL), and blood pressure
(mmHg).
Statistical Analysis
In our study, patients were not randomized to receive a certain bariatric surgery procedure
(RYGB, LAGB, or SG); thus, a number of important observed baseline clinical and demographic
characteristics were essentially different among the bariatric procedures. Propensity score
weighting is an effective method used in observational studies to reduce bias and balance
differences in the observed baseline characteristics among the three bariatric surgery
including age, gender, race, weight, BMI, glucose, and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI)
using the R package TWANG(24,25). The propensity scores were carried out to estimate the
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inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTW) for each patient included in our study(24,25). To
analyze weighted data, we used the R package SURVEY(24-26) to estimate treatment effects of the
bariatric procedures on the primary and secondary outcomes. Similar to randomized control trials
(RCTs), the IPTW propensity-score method eliminates the observed confounders by comparing
the primary and secondary outcomes among patients receiving the three bariatric surgery
Continuous data were expressed as means their standard deviations and categorical variables
were presented as numbers with their percentages in parentheses. The significance threshold was
set at P = 0.05. Differences at baseline among the three bariatric surgery procedures were
analyzed using one-way ANOVA and chi-squared tests for continuous and categorical data,
respectively. Pairwise comparisons of the outcomes between the bariatric surgery procedures, i.e.
RYGB vs. SG, RYGB vs. LAGB, and SG vs. LAGB, were reported using unpaired t-test. All
statistical analyses were performed with R statistical Software (R Foundation for Statistical
Results
Baseline Characteristics
A total of 336 veteran patients were initially screened, of which 174 patients were excluded (120
patients did not receive bariatric surgery and 54 patients underwent surgery outside the VA
medical center) leaving162 to be included in the study. There were 84 patients who underwent
the RYGB procedure, 48 patients received SG, and 30 patients had LAGB. Regarding the
surgical technique, laparoscopic method was the primary technique performed in all three
bariatric procedures (RYGB: 96.4% laparoscopic vs. 3.6% open; SG: 97.9% laparoscopic vs.
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2.1% open; and LAGB: 100% laparoscopic). The study sample had a mean age of 55.29.2
years, of which 113 patients (69.3%) were male and 99 patients (61.1%) were of Caucasian
origin. Overall, the VA patients had a mean body mass index (BMI) of 42.95.2 with the mean
Charlson Comorbidity Index of 1.41.5. Three patients died during the 12-month follow-up after
surgery. Of these three patients, two died in RYGB group due to surgery related complications
(sepsis), and one patient died in LAGB group due to bacterial endocarditis and acute respiratory
distress syndrome months after the surgery. The short-term surgery complication rates for
RYGB, SG, and LAGB were 11.9%, 6.3%, and 0% (P = 0.104) for surgery-related hospital
readmission and 16.7%, 14.6%, and 10.0% (P = 0.677) for surgery-related emergency room visit
Table 1 presented the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics among patients who
received RYGB, LAGB, or SG procedure before and after balancing with the IPTW propensity-
score method. Prior to the adjustment, significant differences were observed in patients age,
gender, and glucose levels (P = 0.004, P = 0.001, and P = 0.027, respectively) among the three
surgical procedures at the baseline. After adjusting using the IPTW propensity-score method, all
the observed demographic and clinical characteristics were balanced with no statistically
significant differences among the three bariatric surgery procedures (all Ps > 0.05) (Table 1).
Weight Reduction
The follow-up rates at 6 and 12 months in the RYGB, SG, and LAGB groups were 96.4% and
96.4%, 97.9% and 89.6%, and 96.7% and 76.7%, respectively. Overall, at 6-month and 12-
month follow-up, the RYGB procedure achieved the most weight loss in kg, BMI reduction,
%WL, and %EWL (P < 0.001 for all pairwise comparisons), followed by the SG procedure, and
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Obesity Related Comorbid Conditions
conditions from baseline for RYGB, SG, and LAGB were 2.83.4, 1.72.9, and 1.32.9,
respectively (RYGB vs. SG, P = 0.007; RYGB vs. LAGB, P < 0.001; and SG vs. LAGB, P =
0.384). At 12 months, the mean reduction in number of chronic medications for RYGB, SG, and
LAGB were 3.23.3, 1.83.2, and 1.12.8 respectively (RYGB vs. SG, P = 0.001; RYGB vs.
There were no significant differences in glucose, A1C, triglycerides, and diastolic blood pressure
among the three bariatric procedures at 6-month and 12-month follow-up (all Ps > 0.05).
Patients underwent RYGB and LAGB achieved significantly lower total cholesterol and LDL
level than those with SG procedure at follow-up (P < 0.05) (Table 3).
Discussion
With the increased prevalence of obesity and its associated comorbid medical conditions, the
number of bariatric surgeries performed in the United States was up more than 50% within 2
years between 2011 and 2013(28). Even with its increasing popularity, comparative effectiveness
evidence among the most common bariatric surgery procedures in the U.S., especially in the
veteran population, is limited. In the current study, we investigated the short-term outcomes of
number of chronic medications and laboratory markers related to obesity in the three common
For short-term weight loss measured by kilogram lost, BMI reduction, %WL, and %EWL, the
RYGB procedure was superior to both SG and LAGB procedures at 6- and 12-month follow-up
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after surgery. Alternatively, SG appeared to achieve better outcomes as compared to the LAGB
associated with obesity-related conditions from the baseline also followed a similar trend as the
effect of weight loss. RYGB was the most effective in reducing the number of chronic
medications when compared to SG and LAGB. Furthermore, RYGB also showed the most
favorable outcomes in the laboratory markers associated with comorbid conditions related to
obesity with the exception of HDL cholesterol. It should be noted that although there was no
statistical significance, the surgery-related hospital readmission rate appeared higher in patients
who received the RYGB procedure and two patients died of surgery-related complications.
Overall, our results appeared to be consistent with evidence from nonveteran populations(14-20).
Strain et al.(18) showed similar outcomes in which 70.4% EWL was seen in gastric bypass
procedure, 49% in sleeve gastrectomy, and 37.7% for adjustable gastric band. In Hutter et al.(17),
the authors found that reduction in BMI and obesity-related comorbidities from the SG
procedure were in between the RYGB and LAGB procedures. More recently, Dogan et al.(14)
reported that RYGB was comparable to SG in both %EWL and BMI reduction, while LAGB
was inferior to both RYGB and SG procedures. Nevertheless, even though these studies tried to
match patients with their age and gender, their baseline clinical characteristics among the
bariatric procedures were not balanced and statistically significant differences were still observed
at baseline such as patients BMI measures and baseline comorbidity profile. As a result, it might
have caused bias and affected their outcome results. The %EWL observed in the current study
were relatively lower than values reported by other studies. However, the %EWL would depend
on both pre-surgery factors, i.e. patients clinical and demographic characteristics, as well as
post-surgery factors, i.e. diet and lifestyle modifications. It was likely that our VA patients were
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different from other patient populations in terms of baseline demographic characteristics and
existing comorbidities, including mental health conditions, that might have impacted on
Due to the observational nature of our study, many confounding factors may exist that would
yield incorrect interpretation of the data. To address the issue, we applied the IPTW propensity-
score method to balance the observed baseline demographic and clinical characteristics among
the three bariatric surgery procedures; therefore, the surgery outcomes were properly compared.
Similar to our study, using propensity-score matching method the Carlin et al.(16) also found that
the degree of weight loss and comorbid condition remission were greatest with RYGB, followed
by SG and then LAGB. The main difference in study by Carlin et al. could be attributed to
different studied patient populations, i.e. our study only included veteran population who were
older with majority of male patients but had less comorbid conditions and better BMI measures;
There were still few external factors that might not be adjusted due to the nature of the study.
Potential selection bias by surgeons as to which procedure to perform and their experience could
not be controlled in our study. Equally important, patients diet and lifestyles after their
surgeries, a factor that might have potentially great impact on clinical outcomes, was not
gastroesophageal reflux or abdominal wall hernias that were not controlled for in our study might
potentially impact the outcomes. As a result, these factors remain the limitations of our study.
Only a RCT can truly minimize both observed and unobserved confounding variables that can
affect the outcome results. Therefore, a RCT with long follow-up time of the three procedures is
imperative to determine the true-lasting effect of these bariatric procedures on obese veterans.
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In summary, the current study was the first to examine the short-term effectiveness of weight
reduction and comorbid-condition management among the three most common bariatric surgery
procedures in U.S. veteran patients. The results of our study are generally consistent with
outcomes from non-veteran populations in which the RYGB procedure achieved the most weight
reduction as compared to the LAGB and SG procedures. However, the degree of weight loss
among the bariatric procedures in U.S. veteran patients were somewhat lower than non-veteran
patients. As a result, interpretation of the current study should be limited to the veteran
population as they are unique and different from other populations in terms of gender ratio,
Conclusions
In the veteran population, the RYGB procedure appears to achieve better short-term outcomes in
compared to the SG and LAGB procedures. SG may be the next best option for bariatric surgery
Disclosures
The authors have no commercial associations that might be a conflict of interest in relation to
this article.
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Table 2. Primary Outcomes for Weight Reduction
RYGB vs. RYGB vs. SG vs.
RYGB SG LAGB SG LAGB LAGB
P-values P-values P-values
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Table 3. Secondary Outcomes: Reductions in Number of Medications and Laboratory Markers for
Obesity-Related Comorbid Conditions
RYGB vs. RYGB vs. SG vs.
RYGB SG LAGB SG LAGB LAGB
P-values P-values P-values
Reduction in Number of
Medications (mean SD)
6 Months Post Surgery 2.8 3.4 1.7 2.9 1.3 2.9 0.007 < 0.001 0.384
12 Months Post Surgery 3.2 3.3 1.8 3.2 1.1 2.8 0.001 < 0.001 0.149
Glucose, mg/dL (mean SD)
100.3 99.2 105.2 0.494 0.388
6 Months Post Surgery 0.802
36.7 29.8 57.3
97.3 104.6 105.6 0.176 0.887
12 Months Post Surgery 0.080
17.0 40.8 54.5
HbA1C, % (mean SD)
6 Months Post Surgery 5.8 1.3 5.9 1.2 5.9 1.2 0.463 0.797 0.673
12 Months Post Surgery 5.7 0.9 5.8 1.2 5.9 0.9 0.726 0.277 0.559
Total Cholesterol, mg/dL (mean
SD)
164.6 186.2 165.3 0.922 0.013
6 Months Post Surgery 0.003
45.9 62.0 53.9
161.7 188.8 168.4 0.335 0.027
12 Months Post Surgery 0.002
46.3 76.3 50.7
LDL Cholesterol, mg/dL (mean
SD)
102.2 116.9 101.9 0.964 0.050
6 Months Post Surgery 0.027
40.3 57.9 48.4
90.3 116.4 99.6 0.137 0.049
12 Months Post Surgery < 0.001
39.9 70.9 46.9
HDL Cholesterol, mg/dL (mean
SD)
41.1 46.2 42.2 0.758 0.287
6 Months Post Surgery 0.017
12.2 18.4 29.9
48.2 50.5 46.0 0.537 0.294
12 Months Post Surgery 0.488
18.0 31.4 28.7
Triglycerides, mg/dL (mean SD)
117.0 115.3 112.0 0.702 0.824
6 Months Post Surgery 0.895
81.2 109.9 100.7
105.0 107.8 114.4 0.597 0.699
12 Months Post Surgery 0.812
98.5 79.8 140.1
SBP, mmHg (mean SD)
125.4 129.1 124.3 0.799 0.398
6 Months Post Surgery 0.453
26.1 45.7 34.1
122.8 130.0 134.3 0.030 0.484
12 Months Post Surgery 0.118
25.6 41.3 42.6
DBP, mmHg (mean SD)
75.6 77.1 76.5 0.761 0.851
6 Months Post Surgery 0.585
17.5 23.0 21.8
74.5 78.4 76.5 0.495 0.541
12 Months Post Surgery 0.134
18.2 20.9 22.0
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DBP: diastolic blood pressure; HDL: high-density lipoprotein; LAGB: laparoscopic gastric binding; LDL: low-
density lipoprotein; RYGB: Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass; SBP: systolic blood pressure; SD: standard deviation; SG:
sleeve gastrectomy
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