Effect of COVID 19 Lockdown on Weight Change in Post-Surgical Bariatric Patients

ABSTRACT

Katarina Bade Hartford CT CT1, Richard Seip Hartford CT1, Tara McLaughlin Vernon Rockville CT1, Darren Tishler Glastonbury CT1, Ilene Staff Hartford CT2, Connie Santana Glastonbury CT1, Aziz Benbrahim MERIDEN CT3, Meagan Moskowitz Meriden CT3, Pavlos Papasavas Hartford CT1 Hartford Hospital1 Hartford Hospital2 Mid State Medical Center3 Introduction: Safe and effective weight loss immediately following bariatric surgery occurs in concert with both social and medical support. Interruption of support networks may threaten weight loss. During the COVID19 pandemic, a Connecticut state-mandated “lockdown” from 3/15 to 5/18/2020 suspended in-person services and interrupted social support. We investigated the effect of exposure to 63 days of COVID lockdown within 12 months of index sleeve gastrectomy (SG) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) on weight loss. Methods: This single center, retrospective chart review identified 1057 patients with 1 year follow-up data who underwent SG or RYGB from 1/9/2016 to 12/30/20. Controls (Group C) (SG n750, RYGB n130) completed surgery and follow up from 1/9/2016 to 3/15/20, before lockdown. Lockdown patients (Group L) (SG n159, RYGB n18) completed surgery before 3/15/20, and follow up after the lockdown (5/20/20 to 12/31/2020). Weight loss (WL) was compared between C and L, within surgery types. Results: Within surgery type, pre-surgery characteristics differed little between L and C (Table 1, top). Days to follow-up, and absolute and relative weight changes did not differ between L and C. Within L, 16% of SG patients and 20% of RYGB patients experienced virtual (telemedicine) visits with bariatric clinicians during follow-up, compared to 0.6% in Group C. Conclusion: We detected no effect of 63 days of COVID lockdown on measures of weight change at 1 year post SG or RYGB. Telemedicine visits may be useful to maintain/improve clinical management of surgical weight loss during suspension of live health services.