Background: Despite some reports about the long-term metabolic outcomes after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) in the Western populations, there are few reports on the Asian population whose body size and fat distribution are different. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the medium-term effects of LAGB on weight loss and metabolic outcomes of obese patients with different body mass index (BMI) in China.
Methods: A retrospective study was performed to review the 5-year follow-up data of 56 patients (18 males, 38 females) who received LAGB from November 2003 to May 2013 at the Shanghai Changhai Hospital. The patients were evaluated at years 1, 3, and 5 after operation in the outpatient clinic, and the weight loss, metabolic parameters, and remission of comorbidities were measured.
Results: The 56 patients preoperatively had BMI of 37.4 ± 6.0 kg/m2, with BMI < 35 kg/m2 in 19 patients (BMI <35 kg/m2 group), and BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 in 37 patients (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 group). The percentages of excess weight loss (%EWL) of the BMI < 35 kg/m2 group at years 1, 3, and 5 were 65.2, 65.6, and 65.7%, respectively, indicating the majority of metabolic parameters were significantly improved (P < 0.05). However, in the BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 group, the %EWL were 37.9, 34.8, and 26.5%, respectively, except at year 1 when the metabolic parameters improved significantly (P < 0.05), those at year 3 and year 5 did not significantly improve compared with the preoperative levels. Similar results were observed in the improvement of comorbidities.
Conclusions: Relatively low medium-term weight loss, metabolic improvement, and resolution or remission of obesity-related comorbidities and high reoperation rate were observed in our population of patients with BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 who underwent LAGB.