Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2019 Jan;98(3):e13824.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000013824.

Bariatric surgery in older adults: Should there be an age limit?

Sergio Susmallian  1 , Asnat Raziel  2 , Royi Barnea  3 , Haim Paran  4
Affiliations
Observational Study

Bariatric surgery in older adults: Should there be an age limit?

Sergio Susmallian et al. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Jan.

Abstract

Obesity has become one of the most significant health problems worldwide, affecting more than one-third of the global population. The elderly population is not immune to this proportional increase in obesity. To date, there is no cure for obesity, but surgery is the most effective treatment available today.We analyzed the results of bariatric surgery in elderly patients for a period of 3 years. Patients 65 years old and older were included in the study, 451 older adults were included. The mean age of the study group was 67.92 years old (min. 65, max. 84). The mean body mass index (BMI) was 40.32 Kg/m (min. 34 and max. 59). Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) was the most common procedures, and were conducted in 346 (76.72%) patients, gastric bypasses (GBPs) in 53 (11.75%) of which 33 were roux en y GBP (7.32%) and 20 mini GBPs (4.43%), gastric banding in 48 (10.64%), and duodenal switching in 4 (0.89%) cases.There were 40 (8.86%) patients with perioperative complications, 6 (1.33%) required re-operations, 12 (2.66) patients with operative complications were treated conservatively, 8 (1.77%) re-admission 5 of them with intrabdominal abscess, and 14 (3.10%) with co-morbidities complications. More than 76% of the patients had co-morbidities, 1 year after surgery the average remission of diseases was 34.74%, the improvement was49.67% and no changes in the co-morbidities was 15.59%. There were no deaths reported in this cohort.The mean excess body weight (EBW) loss among the patients was 70.76% (from 32% to 92%). No failure of weight loss (less than 25% of EBW loss) was observed after the first postoperative year.Bariatric surgery offers obese elderly patients an acceptable result, and it can be offered to improve the quality of life of these patients. A new consensus conference panel is needed to set appropriate recommendations regarding criteria that limit bariatric surgery in older adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest and no support received.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The distribution of procedures per type in numbers. DS/BPD = duodenal switch/biliopancreatic diversion, GB = gastric banding, GBP = gastric bypass, SG = sleeve gastrectomy.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percent of Excess body weight loss after Bariatric Surgery.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percent of excess body weight loss per gender.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Percent of excess body weight loss per age subgroups.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of EBW loss in primary bariatric surgery and in revisional surgery. EBW = excess body weight.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Roebuck J. When does old age begin? The evolution of the English definition. J Soc Hist 1979;12:416–28.
    1. World Health Organization and United Nations University. Protein and amino acid requirements in human nutrition. Report of a joint WHO/FAO/UNU expert consultation. WHO Technical Report Series 935. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2007. Available at: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/ageing... - PubMed
    1. Manton KG. Changing concepts of morbidity and mortality in the elderly population. Milbank Mem Fund Q Health Soc 1982;60:183–244. - PubMed
    1. Auerbach AJ, Kotlikoff LJ. The impact of the demographic transition on capital formation. Scand J Econ 1992;94:281–95. - PubMed
    1. Hill J, Peters J. Environmental contributions to the obesity epidemic. Science 1998;280:1371–4. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms