Published online Feb 15, 2019. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v10.i2.78
Peer-review started: November 6, 2018
First decision: November 29, 2018
Revised: January 8, 2019
Accepted: January 22, 2019
Article in press: January 23, 2019
Published online: February 15, 2019
Processing time: 103 Days and 23.4 Hours
It has been established that bariatric surgery, including laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), has a positive impact on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, less frequently T2DM is reported as a risk factor for complications with this type of surgery.
To evaluate the safety of LSG in T2DM.
A retrospective cohort study was conducted over patients admitted for LSG from January 2008 to May 2015. Data was collected through digitized records. Any deviation from normal postoperative care within the first 60 d was defined as an early complication, and further categorized into mild or severe.
Nine hundred eighty-four patients underwent LSG, among these 143 (14.5%) were diagnosed with T2DM. There were 19 complications in the T2DM group (13.3%) compared to 59 cases in the non-T2DM (7.0%). Out of 19 complications in the T2DM group, 12 were mild (8.4%) and 7 were severe (4.9%). Compared to the non-T2DM group, patients had a higher risk for mild complications (Odds-ratio 2.316, CI: 1.163-4.611, P = 0.017), but not for severe ones (P = 0.615). An increase of 1% in hemoglobin A1c levels was associated with a 40.7% increased risk for severe complications (P = 0.013, CI: 1.074-1.843) but not for mild ones.
Our data suggest that LSG is relatively safe for patients with T2DM. Whether pre-operative control of hemoglobin A1c level will lower the complications rate has to be prospectively studied.
Core tip: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy is the most popular bariatric procedure worldwide today. Its impact among diabetic patients has been beneficial regarding diabetes control. This study is the first to examine the safety of the procedure in this subgroup of the population. We found that the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased rate of mild postoperative complications but not with severe ones. Elevated hemoglobin A1c is a good predictor for the risk of severe complications.