Quality of life, food tolerance, and eating disorder behavior after laparoscopic gastric banding and sleeve gastrectomy - results from a middle eastern center of excellence

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a major health problem in Arab countries. Bariatric surgery can improve the quality of life of an obese individual. However, different types of bariatric surgery result in varying levels of food intolerance as a side effect. Many patients who undergo bariatric surgery are also at risk of subsequently developing eating disorder behaviors. The aim of the study was to compare the quality of life, food tolerance, and behaviors of eating disorders related to laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and gastric banding. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records and a questionnaire-based survey was completed for all patients who had undergone either bariatric sleeve gastrectomy or gastric banding at the Bahrain Defense Force Hospital between 2011 and 2014. Each patient was administered 3 questionnaires to assess the quality of life, food tolerance, and eating disorder behaviors. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients who had undergone sleeve gastrectomy and 36 who had undergone gastric banding participated in the study. Sleeve gastrectomy patients showed better food tolerance (P < 0.001) and better eating behaviors (P = 0.001) post-surgery compared with gastric banding patients. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. Only sleeve patients had preoperative evaluation of these parameters (HRQOL). However, in the gastric sleeve group, after the surgery, significant improvement was found in all parameters of HRQOL except for mental health status. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic gastric sleeve surgery patients had superior outcomes in both food tolerance and eating disorder behaviors. The quality of life did not significantly differ between the gastric sleeve and gastric banding surgery groups.