Bariatric Surgery Lowers Mortality Rate in Obese Patients

Patients with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery had a 57% lower mortality rate than those who do not have surgery, according to a new study from Sweden.

The researchers presented the findings of their study at the European Association for the Study of Obesity’s European Obesity Summit 2016.
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It is well known that obesity causes mortality in various diseases, and previous research has shown that bariatric surgery can help reduce patients’ mortality rate by helping them lose weight. However, population-based prospective studies examining the overall mortality rates in patients who undergo surgery are lacking.

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from a cohort that included 48,693 patients aged 18 to 74 years who had a principal diagnosis of obesity in the Swedish Patient Registry from 2000 to 2011. Of the total, 22,581 patients underwent bariatric surgery.

After a median follow-up of 5.4 years, researchers found that the surgical group had a lower mortality rate than the nonsurgical group (1.11% vs 4.21%). Patients who underwent bariatric surgery reduced their mortality rate by 57% compared with those who did not undergo surgery, regardless of age, sex, comorbidities, or other factors.

“This population-based cohort study indicates that the overall all-cause mortality is considerably lower among obese individuals who undergo bariatric surgery compared to nonsurgical obese individuals,” the researchers concluded.

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Persson CE, Björck L, Lagergren J, Lappas G, Rosengren A. Reduced overall mortality following bariatric surgery. Presented at: European Obesity Summit 2016; June 1-3, 2016; Gothenburg, Sweden. http://easo.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/posterfrimortality.pdf. Accessed June 3, 2016.