Prevalence of Hypoglycemic Symptoms after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy and Associated Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of and risk factors for postprandial hypoglycemic symptoms among bariatric surgery patients. DESIGN AND METHODS: A questionnaire including the Edinburgh hypoglycemia scale was mailed to patients who underwent either Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) at a single center. Based on the questionnaire, we categorized the patients as having high or low suspicion for post-surgical, postprandial hypoglycemic symptoms. RESULTS: Of the 1119 patients with valid addresses, 40.2% (N=450) responded. Among the respondents, 34.2% had a high suspicion for symptoms of post-bariatric surgery hypoglycemia. In multivariate analyses, in addition to female sex (p=0.001), RYGB (p=0.004), longer time since surgery (p=0.013), lack of diabetes (p=0.040), the high suspicion group was more likely to report preoperative symptoms of hypoglycemia (p<0.001), compared to the low suspicion group. Similar results were observed when the high suspicion group was restricted to those requiring assistance from others, syncope, seizure with severe symptoms or medically confirmed hypoglycemia (N=52). CONCLUSION: One third of RYGB or VSG reported postprandial symptoms concerning for post-surgical hypoglycemia, which was related to the presence of pre-operative hypoglycemic symptoms. Pre-operative screening for hypoglycemic symptoms may identify a group of patients at increased risk of post-bariatric surgery hypoglycemia.