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Patients report long-term quality-of-life improvement after duodenal switch surgery
Patients who underwent biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch surgery reported high mental and physical component scores 12 years after surgery, according to recent study findings.
“The results of this study are unique and provide new information while addressing a void in the literature regarding this operation in the United States,” Birgit N. Khandalavala, MD, of the department of family medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and colleagues wrote. “In addition to the weight-loss benefits, overall improvement in health and [health-related quality of life] is one of the primary goals of surgical treatment. Our results indicate that, in our sample, the [health-related quality of life] was significantly improved and did not differ from the general population; hence, their quality of life was normalized and on par with the nonobese cohort.”
Researchers analyzed 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) data from 27 patients who had undergone duodenal switch surgery between 2000 and 2003 (22.2% men; mean age, 44 years; mean presurgical BMI, 48.9 kg/m²). Participants completed the surveys between January and April 2014. Researchers reviewed patient electronic medical records for demographic information, preoperative weight, BMI and surgery details.
“SF-36 scores were recorded as T-scores, which could be compared to the overall U.S. population, with a mean of 50 and a population [standard deviation] of 10 and higher scores representing better health,” the researchers wrote.
Researchers did not have access to presurgical health-related quality-of-life scores for the cohort; z tests were used to compare cohort survey results to presurgery health-related quality-of-life scores from a similar population of patients who underwent duodenal switch surgery in the late 1990s.
“Results of z tests comparing our survey respondents to this population suggest that the [physical component score] and [mental component score] 12 years postsurgery are significantly higher than the presurgical scores of a similar population, suggesting that the benefits of [duodenal switch surgery] on [health-related quality of life] are long lasting,” the researchers wrote. “Our survey sample [health-related quality-of-life] scores did not differ significantly from the expected norms for an average population.” – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.