Do Complications Alter Postoperative Weight Loss 1 Year After Primary and Revisional Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass?

BACKGROUND: Around 10 % of the bariatric surgery patients experience postoperative complications (<30 days). It could be hypothesized that complications influence postoperative weight loss, which is one of the most important endpoints of bariatric surgery. Therefore, this study inventoried the effect of complications on postoperative weight loss. METHODS: A consecutive database including patients who were operated from November 2007 onwards was retrospectively reviewed. All short-term complications were classified according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Weight loss was assessed at 6 and 12 months postoperatively. RESULTS: A total of 1130 patients underwent either primary (n = 907, 80.3 %) or revisional (n = 233, 19.7 %) surgery till October 2013. Short-term complications occurred in 115 (10.2 %) patients, of whom 48 (41.7 %) had a severe (Clavien-Dindo ≥ 3) complication. One year post surgery, 184 patients (16.3 %) were lost to follow-up. Patients with a short-term complication had a higher percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL) at 6 months (58.6 (SD 16.6) versus 52.9 (SD 17.6), p = 0.003) and 1 year (71.9 (SD 22.3) versus 65.9 (SD 21.3), p = 0.017) of follow-up. Although a trend was seen toward higher BMI loss and total weight loss (TWL) after 6 months, no effect was seen 1 year postoperatively. In multivariable linear regression analysis, complications were not a significant predictor for 1-year %EWL. CONCLUSIONS: Although short-term complications alter 1-year %EWL, no effect was seen on BMI loss and TWL. In addition, complications were not a predictor in a multivariable linear regression model for 1-year %EWL. It can be concluded that short-term complications do not impair weight loss after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.