Prospective Study to Evaluate Rectus Femoris Muscle Ultrasound for Body Composition Analysis in Patients Undergoing Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery (BS) has a significant impact on body composition (BC) and consequently may affect established sarcopenic obesity (SO) in candidate patients. The aim of this study was to assess the utility of muscle ultrasound (MUS) of rectus femoris thickness (RFT) for the evaluation of BC and skeletal muscle function in patients undergoing BS compared to bioimpedance analysis (BIA), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and dynamometry. On the other hand, we aimed to demonstrate how MUS of RFT correlates with quality of life (QoL) in this population, likely due to its ability to detect regional quadriceps muscle sarcopenia compared to the other mentioned methods. This was a prospective pilot study that included 77 participants (64.9% female, mean age: 53.2 ± 8.67 years) who underwent BS. Handgrip strength was measured using a dynamometer, fat-free mass index (iFFM) was assessed by BIA, appendicular muscle index (AMI) was calculated using DEXA, and RFT was measured by MUS. Moreover, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated. All these measurements were conducted 1 month prior to BS and at the 12-month follow-up. QoL was assessed using the Moorehead-Ardelt questionnaire. The mean BMI decreased by 12.95 ± 3.56 kg/m ( = 0.001). Firstly, we observed a positive correlation pre-surgery between HOMA and RFT (r = 0.27, = 0.02), iFFM (r = 0.36, = 0.001), AMI (r = 0.31, = 0.01) and dynamometer readings (r = 0.26, = 0.02). In addition, we found a correlation between RFT and iFFM (pre-surgery: r = 0.31, = 0.01; post-surgery: r = 0.25, = 0.05) and between RFT and lower-extremity AMI post-surgery (r = 0.27, = 0.04). Secondly, we observed significant reductions in iFFM, AMI and RFT ( = 0.001), but not in dynamometer readings ( = 0.94). Finally, a tendency to a positive correlation between QoL questionnaire and RFT post-surgery results (r = 0.23, = 0.079) was observed. Our results suggest that RFT measured by MUS is useful for evaluating SO and for the follow-up of these patients after BS. Moreover, RFT can provide relevant information about regional sarcopenia and probably has an accurate correlation with QoL in comparison with the other methods.