Patient Age Predicts Long Term Insufficient Weight Loss after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Introduction: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is the most popular and effective treatment for patients with morbid obesity.However, some patients experience insufficient weight loss after surgery.Detecting insufficient weight loss in the early postoperative phase and acknowledging insufficient weight loss predictive factors are crucial to apply fast interventions for those patients.We explored the appropriate timing of insufficient weight loss diagnosis and predictive factors for insufficient weight loss after LSG.Methods: Patients who underwent LSG at our single institution were analyzed retrospectively.Patients were divided into three groups according to percentage total weight loss (%TWL) at 3 months after surgery: %TWL 10%, 10%-20%, and 20%.The %TWL values of these groups were compared up to 5 years after surgery.The %TWL 10% and 20% groups were compared to identify insufficient weight loss predictive factors.Results: A total of 198 patients were included in this study.Thirty-four patients with %TWL 10%, 138 patients with 10%-20%, and 26 patients with 20% were identified.The %TWL 10% group showed significantly less weight loss postoperatively up to 5 years.Patient age was the only clinical factor that differed significantly between the groups after a multiple logistic regression analysis.Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed that patient age of 47 years was the optimal cutoff for predicting %TWL 10% at 3 months after surgery.Conclusions: %TWL 10% at 3 months after LSG is an early indicator for long-term insufficient weight loss, and patient age of 47 years is a predictor for %TWL 10%.