New Study Shows Mini Gastric Bypass Helps the Morbidly Obese

BY: SANAE K. TANAKA, M.D.

A recent comparative study in Taiwan between patients who underwent a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and patients who had a laparoscopic mini-gastric bypass shows that the mini-gastric bypass procedure offers the same benefits as the more common Roux-en-Y surgery for people with morbid obesity.

In the study, reported by Tai-Chi Chen et al in the Annals of Surgery, patients requiring bariatric surgery were randomly assigned to two groups, one to undergo the standard laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and the other the laparoscopic mini-gastric bypass. The patients were followed for two years after the operation and compared for short-term and long-term complications along with weight loss, improvement in comorbidities in terms of the metabolic syndrome, and quality of life satisfaction as assessed with a standardized questionnaire.

Although the weight loss a year later was higher for those that had the mini-gastric bypass procedure, there was no difference in average overall weight loss between the two groups two years after the operation.

In addition, the rate of short-term major post-operative complications was higher with the Roux-en-Y patients, while there was no difference with minor complications. With long-term complications, only the hemoglobin level of the mini-gastric bypass group was lower than the Roux-en-Y group. There were no significant differences in other parameters that were followed. With both groups, those diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome had 100 percent cure ratio. Both groups also reported significant improvement in the quality of life satisfaction post-op assessment.

Overall, the laparoscopic mini-gastric bypass is a simpler procedure than the standard laparoscopic Roux-en-Y surgery. Since there are no major differences either in complications or in improved quality of life post-op between the two patient groups, researchers believe the mini-gastric bypass procedure is a viable alternative method for surgical treatment of morbid obesity.