Reversal of Long-Term Weight Regain After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Using Liraglutide or Surgical Revision. A Prospective Study

Purpose This study investigates whether pharmacotherapy with liraglutide is similarly effective in reversing weight regain more than 6 years after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) as revisional surgery aimed at restoring restriction. Methods Ninety-five consecutive patients (11 male, 84 female; mean BMI 45 ± 6 kg/m 2 ) undergoing RYGB 9 ± 4 years ago were treated for 24 months as follows: Patients, who gained less than 10% from weight NADIR, served as controls and were provided lifestyle counseling (DC, n = 30). The others were allowed to choose between three different treatment groups: daily s.c. administration of liraglutide (LG, n = 34); endosurgery using Apollo’s Overstitch System™ (ES, n = 15), or implantation of a Fobi-ring with pouch resizing (FP, n = 16). Results Controls kept their weight stable during 24 months of study (− 0.1 ± 1.7 kg/m 2 ). Weight loss was 4.8 ± 2.9 kg/m 2 for LG and 5.5 ± 2.9 kg/m 2 for FP, both losing more than 85% of regained weight from weight NADIR ( p