Weight regain in bariatric patients followed at Policlínica Piquet Carneiro

Abstract

Obesity is a disease with high prevalence in our country and surgical treatment may reduce cardiovascular morbimortality. Despite increased knowledge about surgical techniques and clinical management of these patients, we still observe high rates of weight regain. The aim of this study is to evaluate the rate of weight regain (TxR) of bariatric patients seen in a medical set for the first time at the Policlínica Piquet Carneiro for outpatient care. We recruited between April and September, 2013, 35 patients (29 females and 6 males; 39.3 ± 9.10 years) who have undergone bariatric surgery. The body mass index (BMI - weight in kg/height2) was calculated and, based on the reported pre-surgical weight and minimum weight achieved after surgery, we calculated respectively the preoperative BMI and minimum BMI. The TxR was calculated [(current weight - minimum weight) x 100/(weight preoperatively - minimum weight)]. The patients were divided according to the time from surgery, as follows: ≤1 year (G ≤ 1) and > 1 year (G > 1). Afterwards, these patients were regrouped into two other new ones: < 2 years (G < 2) and ≥ 2 years (G ≥ 2) and further < 5 years (G < 5) and ≥ 5 years (G ≥ 5). Of the 35 patients enrolled, 94.3% (n = 33) were submitted to Roux-en-Y gastroplasty. The preoperative BMI was reported to be 50.5 ± 8.92 kg/m2. Regarding the time of surgery, we observed that 22.8% (n = 8) of the sample had performed their surgery within 1 year, 40% (n = 14) in less than 2 years and 74.3% (n = 26) within 5 years. The achieved minimum BMI was 30.7 ± 6.6 kg/m2. 71.4% (n = 25) of the patients have already referred weight regain at the first visit and current BMI was 34.2 ± 6.89 kg/m2. Group G ≤ 1 showed lower TxR than G > 1 (3.8 ± 3.1 vs. 20.6 ± 4.1%, p < 0.05). This was highlighted after the second year of surgery (2.6 ± 1.8 vs. 26.2 ± 4.6%, p < 0.001), making it even more relevant after five years from surgery (10.1 ± 3.0 vs. 35.9 ± 7.2%, p < 0.001). It is concluded that the weight regain was already present in the first year after surgery, but becomes more important due to the time from surgery.