Surgical Prevention of Weight Regain and Type 2 Diabetes Recurrence in 3 Different Bariatric Operations and Their Differential Long-Term Outcome: An 8-Year Prospective Observational Study

INTRODUCTION: Comparative data on long-term outcomes of mechanistically different bariatric operations are scarce. METHODS: In this prospective, observational study, consecutive patients with severe obesity were studied using a predefined reoperation algorithm to determine long-term health outcomes after bariatric surgery (BS): adjustable gastric banding (AGB), Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), or biliopancreatic diversion (BPD). All patients were assessed for mortality, postoperative weight loss, rate of reoperation, comorbidities, and quality of life (QoL) 8 years after surgery. RESULTS: Between 1996 and 2008, 2364 Swiss patients, with a mean body mass index of 43 ± 7 kg/m(2) (mean ± SD) underwent AGB (n = 1404), RYGB (n = 790), or BPD (n = 170). Two thousand two hundred twenty-eight (94%) were followed for 8 years after BS. Eight-year mortality of the whole study group was 34.3 per 10(4) person-years. Percent excessive weight loss at 8 years was 56.7 ± 1.4% (95% confidence interval) in AGB, 62.5 ± 2.4% in RYGB and 64.8+-3.0% in BPD. The rate of major reoperation was highest in AGB and significantly lower in RYGB and BPD (63.4 vs 54.3 vs 47.2 per 10(3) person-years, P < 0.001). Remission of comorbidities was observed across all 3 groups, with key improvement (P < 0.01) in esophagitis in the RYGB group, and type 2 diabetes (T2D) (>60%) in procedures involving duodenal exclusion. Total improvement in QoL was similar between the 3 types of operations but was strongly correlated with weight loss preservation (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: BS, at the expense of a high reoperation rate but low procedural mortality, considerably improves the QoL and results in sustained remission of comorbidities, especially T2D using a predefined reoperation algorithm developed to prevent weight regain and operation-specific complications.