Long term follow up of patients who underwent jejunoileal bypass for morbid obesity

Abstract

Objective: To describe our long term results after jejunoileal (JI) bypass for morbid obesity.

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: Teaching hospital, Denmark

Subjects: All 57 patients who underwent JI bypass for morbid obesity between January 1973 and December 1988.

Interventions: Type A and type B JI bypass.

Main outcome measures: Weight loss, operative morbidity and mortality, and subjective evaluation of the results.

Results: Mean duration of follow up was 15.9 years (range 8-22). There were no operative or early postoperative deaths, but there were 7 late deaths (12%). 5 patients developed postoperative complications (9%), and 11 patients (19%) required reoperation for side effects or complications. The mean body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) was reduced from 47.5 (range 40-60) to 32 (range 22-49) during the follow up period which corresponded to a weight loss of about 42 kg. Of the 39 patients who still had a JI bypass in 1994, nearly two thirds said that they were satisfied with the operation, though they nearly all had some side effects such as diarrhoea or intermittent abdominal pain.

Conclusion: As complications of JI bypass can develop at any time, we suggest that all patients who have had the operation should be regularly followed up at special clinics so that complications can be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible.