Introduction
Bariatric surgery is the most effective intervention for body weight loss in terms of degree of excess body weight loss. Body weight loss after bariatric surgery shows individual variation. This is the first prospective study assessing body weight loss after bariatric surgery among Sri Lankans, to the best of our knowledge.
Objective
We aimed to describe the degree of variability of body weight loss after bariatric surgery among obese Sri Lankans.
Methodology
We followed up 50 obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery at Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka for 1 year. Percentage body weight loss (%BWL) was calculated as body weight loss /pre-operative body weight and was categorized as <20%, 20-25%, 25-30%, 30-35% and >35%.
Results
Overall 90.0% were females. Mean age was 38.7 (±9.9) years. Mean pre-operative body weight, body mass index were 109.7 (±19.0) kg and 45.5 (±7.0) kg/m2 respectively. At 6 months after bariatric surgery 37.1%, 51.4% and 11.4% of patients showed PBWL of <20%, 20-25% and 25-30% respectively. None of the patients had a %BWL of >30% at 6 months. At 12 months after bariatric surgery, 11.5%, 23.1%, 23.1%, 30.8% and 11.5% showed %BWL of <20%, 20-25%, 25-30%, 30-35% and >35% respectively.
Conclusions
%BWL following bariatric surgery shows considerable individual variation among Sri Lankan adults. Approximately two thirds of the patients who underwent bariatric surgery achieved %BWL of >20% at 6 months after bariatric surgery. By 12 months after surgery approximately 40% of patients achieved %BWL of >30% while almost half of the patients achieved a %BWL of 20-30%. Interestingly, %BWL of <20% and >35% was recorded in approximately 10% of the patients respectively. This variability in body weight loss should be taken into consideration when selecting patients for bariatric surgery and counselling patients prior to surgery.