Predicting Bariatric Surgical Outcomes: Does Preoperative Weight Gain Correlate with Lesser Postoperative Weight Loss?

BACKGROUND: This study is a retrospective analysis of 76 patients who underwent vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG), in order to determine whether preoperative weight gain correlates with lesser postoperative weight loss. METHODS: Patients were divided into two groups: those patients who did not gain a significant amount of weight during the preoperative period (group 1), and those patients who gained greater than 2.5% of their preoperative BMI during the preoperative period (group 2). There were 59 patients in group 1 and 17 patients in group 2. RESULTS: Patients in group I had an average follow-up of 374 days and lost an average of 37.5 kg. The patients in group 2 had an average follow-up of 379 days with an average weight loss of 39.3 kg. CONCLUSION: Linear regression analysis was performed and supported the finding that preoperative weight gain is not predictive of lesser postoperative weight loss.