Management of weight regain after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: A retrospective study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of General Surgery, Ain-Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Background/Objective: Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is an efficient bariatric procedure. However,
weight regain (WR) endangers its outcomes in ~10–20% of patients. In this study, we aim to unravel the weight loss
outcomes of combined Limb distalization (LD) and laparoscopic pouch resizing (LPR) versus LD only.
Patients and Methods: We retrospectively followed patients who had either type I LD or combined LPR and type I LD
for WR post-RYGB over a 2-year follow-up period. Patients who had more than one bariatric procedure were excluded.
WR is defined as a regain of greater than or equal to 5 kg/m2
 of the BMI, and/or a regain of 25% of percentage excess
weight loss (%EWL).
Results: During the study period from December 2019 to July 2023, 24 patients with WR after previous RYGB were
enrolled. Eleven patients had type I LD (group A) while 13 patients had combined LPR and LD (group B). Both procedures
had significantly higher %EWL and lower BMI than the preintervention values at one year of follow-up. Combined LPR
and LD patients continued to lose weight significantly over the second year with a statistically significant drop in the
mean BMI (from 31.9±6.8 to 28.7±7.1) and a similar rise in the mean %EWL (from 66.1±8.2 to 70.3±6.7), whereas LD
patients had no additional significant weight loss at the 2-year follow-up. Combined LPR and LD led to more weight loss
which is statistically significant at both 1- and 2-year follow-up (P=0.046, P=0.021, respectively). Additionally, 20.8%
of our patients developed complications with no mortality recorded. Only one patient had a relapse of obesity-related
comorbidity.
Conclusion: Patients with combined LPR and type I LD achieved more superior and durable weight loss at a 2-year
follow-up compared to type I LD only.

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