Bariatric/metabolic surgery has proven to be effective in inducing and maintaining diabetes remission-although with a percentage of patients undergoing hyperglycemia relapse-weight loss, and improvement of the cardiovascular risk. It is, however, associated with mortality, although low, and early and late complications. In particular, metabolic complications are related to vitamin deficiency due to the erratic absorption of the supplemented vitamins and to the unpredictable compliance of patients to vitamin and trace element supplementation. In addition, often, the general practitioners and even the specialists are unaware of the clinical effects of metabolic dysfunction following malabsorptive surgery. The choice of the surgical procedure should be the balance between benefits and risks. Our review addresses this important question trying to give some suggestions.
Keywords: Bilio-pancreatic diversion; Gastric banding; Gastric bypass; Metabolic surgery; Patient selection; Sleeve gastrectomy.