Investigation of Antidepressant Medication Usage after Bariatric Surgery

Many patients seeking bariatric surgery have a history of mood disorders and are actively prescribed antidepressants. While extensive documentation exists on the impact of weight loss surgery on reductions in cardiac, diabetic, and hypertensive medications, little is known about the impact of bariatric surgery on the use of antidepressant medications. A retrospective study of 439 patients who had undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) from January 2001 to November 2004 was examined for postoperative changes in the use of antidepressant medications. After RYGB, 23% of the patients had an increase in their antidepressant use, 40% continued to require the same antidepressant, 18% had a change in antidepressant medication, and only 16% had a decrease or discontinued their antidepressant. Unlike most medications, antidepressant usage did not decrease in the majority of patients after RYGB. These results highlight the prevalence of antidepressant prescription use in patients before and after RYGB and support the need for the careful monitoring of depressive symptoms.