The effect of bariatric surgery on metabolic syndrome: A retrospective cohort study in Colombia

Introduction and ObjectiveMetabolic syndrome (MetS) represents a group of metabolic abnormalities. It is currently a pandemic, and its prevalence is on the rise. MetS has a direct relationship with obesity, for this reason, bariatric and metabolic surgery has been proposed as a method to simultaneously control obesity and MetS. However, in Colombia the results of this intervention are unknown. This study aims to compare metabolic syndrome before and after bariatric surgery in a Colombian population. MethodsRetrospective cohort study conducted in a highly complex institution in Colombia, where comparing the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients who underwent bariatric surgery during a 1-year follow-up period, between January 2015 and December 2019. Of these patients, 48 underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and 32 underwent sleeve gastrectomy by laparoscopic technique. ResultsA total of 80 patients were included, of which 67.5% were women and the mean age was 42.8 +/- 12.9 years. The most frequent preprocedure comorbidities were arterial hypertension (36.2%), dyslipidemia (32.4%), and sleep apnea (20%). After bariatric surgery, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome decreased from 66.2% to 3.7% (p < 0.05). In addition, a reduction in the Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance score from 77.5% to 22.5% was observed during the follow-up period. HbA1c, creatinine, and thyroid-stimulating hormone, were the only parameters without significant changes. ConclusionsMetabolic and bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for weight reduction, with a high impact in reducing the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in the short and medium term in the Colombian population.

Automated summary

This study compares the prevalence of metabolic syndrome before and after bariatric surgery in a Colombian population. The results show that bariatric surgery leads to a significant reduction in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and improvement in insulin resistance.