Outcomes of Bariatric Surgery in Patients with Cirrhosis

© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Context: Information concerning the risk–benefit profile of bariatric surgery in subjects with liver cirrhosis is scarce. Our aim was to describe the long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery in a cohort of patients with liver cirrhosis submitted to bariatric surgery. Methods: This was a multicenter, retrospective observational study performed by the Obesity Group of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition (GOSEEN), with a review of patients with cirrhosis who had undergone bariatric surgery during the period from April 2004 to March 2017 in ten public reference hospitals in Spain. Results: Data on 41 patients with cirrhosis submitted to obesity surgery were collected (mean age 53.8 ± 7.9 years, 46.3% women, presurgical BMI 45 ± 8.3 kg/m 2 ). All but one patient belonged to Child–Pugh class A, and sleeve gastrectomy was conducted in 68.3% of cases. Percentage of total weight loss (%TWL) was 26.33 ± 8.3% and 21.16 ± 15.32% at 1 and 5 years after surgery, respectively. This was accompanied by a significant reduction of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and dyslipidemia and by an improvement of liver enzymes over time. Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) index increased from 7.2 ± 1.9 to 9.8 ± 4.6 after 5 years. Seven patients (17%) developed early postsurgical complications. No postsurgical mortality was observed. During follow-up, only five patients developed liver decompensation. Conclusions: Bariatric surgery in selected patients with liver cirrhosis has metabolic benefits that could have a positive impact on liver prognosis. Trial Registration: Controlledtrials.com Identifier: 10.1186/ISRCTN15009106.