The influence of summer closure on serious postoperative complications in bariatric surgery

INTRODUCTION: Bariatric surgery is an effective method of treating obesity, with gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy being the most common techniques used worldwide. Despite the technical challenges in these methods, little is known about the effects of summer closure on the incidence of serious postoperative complications in surgeries performed shortly after summer vacation. This has therefore been studied in our large cohort. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study based on data from the Scandinavian Obesity Surgery Registry was conducted. Patients who underwent a primary gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy operation between 2010 and 2019 were included. The rate of serious complications within 30 days after surgery for patients who underwent surgery the first month after summer closure was compared to those who underwent surgery during the rest of the year using the χ(2) test and adjusted logistic regression. RESULTS: The study included 42,404 patients, 36,094 of whom underwent gastric bypass and 6310 of whom received sleeve gastrectomy. Summer closure was associated with an increased risk for serious postoperative complications in gastric bypass surgery (adjusted odds ratio (adj-OR) = 1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01–1.36). No statistically significant association was seen for sleeve gastrectomy (adj-OR = 1.17; 95% CI: 0.72–1.91), nor in overall complication rate. CONCLUSIONS: Summer closure increases the risk of serious postoperative complications in gastric bypass surgery. No statistically significant association was found for sleeve gastrectomy surgery. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00423-022-02566-w.