Risk of Operative and Nonoperative Interventions Up to 4 Years After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass vs Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy in a Nationwide US Commercial Insurance Claims Database

IMPORTANCE: There are few nationwide studies comparing the risk of reintervention after contemporary bariatric procedures. OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk of intervention after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) vs vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study used a nationwide US commercial insurance claims database. Adults aged 18 to 64 years who underwent a first RYGB or VSG procedure between January 1, 2010, and June 30, 2017, were matched on US region, year of surgery, most recent presurgery body mass index (BMI) category (based on diagnosis codes), and baseline type 2 diabetes. The prematch pool included 4496 patients undergoing RYGB and 8627 patients undergoing VSG, and the final weighted matched sample included 4476 patients undergoing RYGB and 8551 patients undergoing VSG. EXPOSURES: Bariatric surgery procedure type (RYGB vs VSG). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was any abdominal operative intervention after the index procedure. Secondary outcomes included the following subtypes of operative intervention: biliary procedures, abdominal wall hernia repair, bariatric conversion or revision, and other abdominal operations. Nonoperative outcomes included endoscopy and enteral access. Time to first event was compared using multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression modeling. RESULTS: Among 13 027 patients, the mean (SD) age was 44.4 (10.3) years, and 74.1% were female; 13.7% had a preoperative BMI between 30 and 39.9, 45.8% had a preoperative BMI between 40 and 49.9, and 24.2% had a preoperative BMI of at least 50. Patients were followed up for up to 4 years after surgery (median, 1.6 years; interquartile range, 0.7-3.2 years), with 41.9% having at least 2 years of follow-up and 16.3% having at least 4 years of follow-up. Patients undergoing VSG were less likely to have any subsequent operative intervention than matched patients undergoing RYGB (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.80; 95% CI, 0.72-0.89) and similarly were less likely to undergo biliary procedures (aHR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.67-0.90), abdominal wall hernia repair (aHR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.47-0.75), other abdominal operations (aHR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.61-0.82), and endoscopy (aHR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.49-0.59) or have enteral access placed (aHR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.39-0.86). Patients undergoing VSG were more likely to undergo bariatric conversion or revision (aHR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.19-2.80). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this nationwide study, patients undergoing VSG appeared to be less likely than matched patients undergoing RYGB to experience subsequent abdominal operative interventions, except for bariatric conversion or revision procedures. Patients considering bariatric surgery should be aware of the increased risk of subsequent procedures associated with RYGB vs VSG as part of shared decision-making around procedure choice.