Pre-bariatric surgery weight loss helpful

Danville, Pa. -- Obese patients who lose up to 10 percent of body weight before bariatric surgery have more rapid postoperative weight loss, a U.S. study found.

Christopher D. Still and colleagues at Geisinger Health System, in Danville, Pa., assessed 884 patients who underwent open or laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery between 2002 and 2006.

Of the 884 patients, average age 45, 19 percent lost 5 percent to 10 percent of their excess body weight prior to the operation and 48 percent lost 10 percent or more of excess weight prior to the operation, Still said.

The study, published in the Archives of Surgery, found that those who lost more than 5 percent of body weight were less likely to stay in the hospital longer than four days. Those who lost more than 10 percent of their excess weight before surgery were more than twice as likely to have lost 70 percent of excess weight one year afterward, compared with those who lost between none and 5 percent of their excess pounds before surgery.

The study authors speculate that physiologic improvements associated with weight loss decreased surgical complications reducing the length of hospital stay.

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