Bariatric surgery in over 60 years old patients: is it worth it?

Safety of bariatric surgery in the elderly: results from the Dutch National Registry

BACKGROUND

The increased human life expectancy and prevalence of obesity lead to more elderly people with obesity. As the popularity of bariatric surgery continues to grow, more elderly persons apply for bariatric surgery. However, because of the potentially higher surgical risk in elderly patients, bariatric surgery has been performed in small numbers. Moreover, the literature so far has shown controversial results.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the safety of bariatric surgery in elderly patients in terms of 2-year morbidity and mortality.

SETTING

Dutch nationwide mandatory registry for bariatric surgery.

METHODS

A population-based retrospective cohort study. Elderly patients (aged ≥65 years) who received primary bariatric surgery between January 2015 and January 2020 were compared with the general bariatric surgical population (aged 18-65 years).

RESULTS

Of 49,553 patients, 838 elderly patients (1.7%) were included. An intraoperative complication was registered in 1.2% of the elderly patients and 1.1% of the nonelderly patients (P = .814). A severe short-term complication (≤30 days) was registered in 38 elderly patients (4.5%) and 1071 nonelderly patients (2.2%) (P < .001). The short-term mortality rates were .2% and .1%, respectively (P = .173). Bleeding was the most reported short-term complication. Significantly more nonelderly patients had a follow-up visit; 560 elderly patients (66.8%) versus 34,975 nonelderly patients (71.8%) (P = .002). The severe midterm complication rate (>30 days to ≤2 years) was significantly higher in nonelderly patients (3.7% versus 1.6%; P = .008).

CONCLUSIONS

Bariatric surgery in elderly patients is safe in terms of perioperative outcome, mortality, and midterm complication rate. However, elderly patients experienced twice as many severe short-term complications. Bariatric surgery in elderly patients should be recommended on a case-by-case basis.

Safety and Efficacy of One Anastomosis Gastric Bypass on Patients with Severe Obesity Aged 65 Years and Above

PURPOSE

With the global increase in life expectancy and the subsequent impaired quality of life in older obese adults, modalities such as bariatric surgery become crucial to help lose excess weight. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of one anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB) in patients 65 years old and above.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This retrospective cohort study was conducted on 61 patients with severe obesity aged ≥ 65 years through Iran National Obesity Surgery Database. The patients had undergone OAGB and were followed up for 12 to 60 months. The required data was extracted through national database.

RESULTS

Mean age and BMI of the patients were 67.62 ± 2.03 years and 46.42 ± 5.46 kg/m², respectively. Regarding gender, 90.1% of the participants were female. Mean operative time and length of hospital stay were 41.37 ± 13.91 min and 1.16 ± 0.61 days, respectively. Five patients (8.19%) required ICU admission. The changes in %TWL after 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 month follow-up was 18.62%, 25.51%, 32.84%, 35.86%, 38.49%, 31.41%, and 29.52%, respectively. The resolution of gastroesophageal reflux disease, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, obstructive sleep apnea, and hypertension after 24 month was about 100%, 65%, 73.33%, 100%, and 76%, respectively. The postoperative early and late complications were 6.53% and 11.46%, respectively. We did not find significant difference in above results between two age groups of 65-70 and > 70 years.

CONCLUSIONS

OAGB can be a good choice in older obese adults because of its shorter operative time, higher potency, and low complication rate.