Influence of the lockdown due to COVID-19 on weight-loss results during the first year after sleeve gastrectomy()

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 pandemic has lead to lockdown of population in many countries. In Spain, the state of alarm was established from March 15 to June 20, 2020. Usually this fact decreased people's mobility and physical activity, in addition to producing or exacerbating psychological disorders. Our aim was to determine the influence that this condition had over the short-term ponderal results of patients undergoing laparoscopic vertical gastrectomy from May 2019 to May 2020. METHODS: Case–control study for comparing the percentage of excess weight lost (%EWL) and the percentage of total weight lost (%TWL) of patients that underwent a VG during the last year, so they were affected by lockdown in April and part of March 2020 (group 1), to the %EWL and %TWL of a control group (group 2), obtained from our previous series. RESULTS: The mean %EWL in group 1 is 47.37 ± 18.59 and in group 2 is 51.13 ± 17.59, being P=.438. Meanwhile, the mean %TWL in group 1 is 21.14 ± 8.17 and in group 2 is 24.67 ± 8.01, with P=.115. CONCLUSIONS: Population lockdown by COVID-19 did not get worse short-term results of vertical gastrectomy. More studies with a larger number of patients are necessary to draw firm conclusions.