Diabetic Markers, Five Years after Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery delivers substantial weight loss for obese patients with comorbidities like diabetes mellitus. We aimed to investigate the impacts of bariatric surgery on diabetic markers after 5 years of follow-up.

This is a retrospective study on patients with diabetes and a history of bariatric surgery between 2016-2017. The diabetic markers before and 5 years following surgery, including a lipid profile, glucose level, and the required antidiabetic medications, were evaluated.

34 consecutive patients were included, 30 (88.2%) women, with a mean age of 52.71±8.53 years. The majority (65%) of surgeries were Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), and the remaining were one anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG). The serum levels of diabetic markers reduced during follow-up (P=0.001), except for high-density lipoprotein levels and serum total cholesterol, which increased (P=0.011, P=0.838). Low-density lipoprotein levels reduced, but it was insignificant (P=0.194). Surgery types had affected the changes of diabetic markers (P>0.05). Demand for oral medication was reduced significantly, but insulin injection reduction was not significant (P=0.006 and P=0.099, respectively).

Our study showed favorable bariatric surgery results on patients with diabetes in long-term follow-up. However, dyslipidemia is still a concern.