TUESDAY, Aug. 18, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Bariatric surgery is associated with a reduction in mortality, and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is effective for blood pressure (BP) control in patients with hypertension and obesity, according to two studies published online Aug. 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Aristithes G. Doumouras, M.D., M.P.H., from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues conducted a population-based matched cohort study involving 13,679 patients who underwent bariatric surgery from January 2010 to December 2016 and 13,679 matched nonsurgical patients. The researchers found overall mortality rates of 1.4 and 2.5 percent in the surgery and nonsurgery groups, respectively, after a median follow-up of 4.9 years (hazard ratio, 0.68). The absolute risk reduction was 3.3 percent for patients aged ≥55 years (hazard ratio, 0.53).
Carlos A. Schiavon, M.D., from HCor Research Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial to examine the three-year effects of RYGB compared to medical therapy (MT) alone on BP in patients with hypertension and body mass index of 30.0 to 39.9 kg/m². The researchers found that the primary outcome (≥30 percent reduction in number of antihypertensive medications while maintaining BP <140/90 mm Hg) occurred in 73 and 11 percent of patients in the RYGB and MT groups, respectively (relative risk, 6.52). BP <140/90 and <130/80 mm Hg without medications was achieved by 35 and 31 percent of the RYGB group, respectively, and 2 and 0 percent of the MT group, respectively.
These studies "lend greater support for RYGB as a treatment option for obesity, particularly for middle-aged and older adults," write the authors of an accompanying editorial.
The Schiavon study was funded by Ethicon, represented in Brazil by Johnson & Johnson.
Abstract/Full Text - Doumouras (subscription or payment may be required)
Abstract/Full Text - Schiavon (subscription or payment may be required)
Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)
