Weight Loss and Late Complications after Silastic Ring Vertical Gastroplasty. A 10 Year Follow-up.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Severe obesity is a public health care system challenge that requires bariatric surgery. Among the plethora of bariatric surgery techniques silastic ring vertical gastroplasty (SRVG) is a safe and efficient restrictive method that has been successfully used previously. However, it's performance by open approach has been abandoned and replaced by other methods using the laparoscopic method. The aim of the present study was to investigate patients with severe obesity submitted to open SRVG and to report our results over a period of 10 years in terms of weight loss, late complications and surgical re-interventions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 112 severely obese patients submitted to open SRVG between years 2008- 2009 were investigated retrospectively for body mass index (BMI), percent excess BMI loss (%EBMIL), late surgical complications and reoperations. 41.96% of the patients were followed up 10 years after SRVG. Results: The initial mean BMI was 47.38 +- 7.59 kg/m2 and dropped statistically significant (p 0.001) to 31.05 +- 6.54 kg/m2 by the first year after SRVG. The mean BMI was rather stable along the first 5 years after SRVG when it started to increase gradually, reaching 35.93 +- 7.20 kg/m2 by the 10th year of follow-up when it remained still significantly lower (p 0.001) as compared to the mean baseline value. The %EBMIL was 79% at one year after surgery and reached 51% by the 10th year of follow-up. The most frequent late complications after SRVG were stoma stenosis (8.92%), enlargement of the stoma (8.03%) and incisional hernia (3.36%). As a consequence of stoma stenosis the ring has been removed in all cases. In 2 cases, after the ring removal, the patients underwent gastric bypass. CONCLUSION: SRVG is a safe and efficient restrictive technique of bariatric surgery open to many options to be revised, leading to a successful sustained long term weight loss and maintenance. Stoma stenosis, enlargement of the stoma and incisional hernia are the most frequent late complications after SRVG requesting reoperations.

Effects of sleeve gastrectomy on insulin resistance.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Obesity is a major risk factor for the onset of insulin resistance (IR), hyperinsulinemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) Evidence data has proven that beyond important weight loss bariatric surgery especially Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and bilio-pancreatic diversion (BPD) leads to significant early reduction of insulinemia and of IR calculated through the homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR), independently of fat mass decrease. Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is now used as a sole weight loss operation with good results. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the early changes of fasting blood glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR in a group of morbidly obese (MO) patients i.e. at 7, 30 and 90 days after SG. METHODS: The study included 20 MO patients (7 male and 13 female) submitted to SG. Anthropometrical (weight, body mass index -BMI, percent excess BMI loss -%EBMIL) and biochemical (plasma glucose, insulin and calculated HOMA-IR ) evaluation were performed before and at 7, 30 and 90 days after SG. In addition, a second group of 10 normal weight healthy subjects with a BMI ranging form 19 kg/m(2) to 23.14 kg/m(2), matched for age and gender was investigated. RESULTS: Plasma glucose (p=0.018), insulin (p=0.004) and HOMA-IR (p=0.006) values were statistically different between the studied groups. After surgery, at every follow-up point, there were statistically different weight and BMI mean values relative to the operation day (p<0.003). BMI, decreased at 7 days (estimated reduction=2.79; 95% CI:[2.12;3.45]), at 30 days (estimated reduction=5.65; 95% CI:[3.57;7.73]) and at 90 days (estimated reduction=10.88; 95% CI:[7.35;14.41]) respectively after SG. We noted a tendency toward statistical significant change of mean insulin values at 7 days after surgery (corrected p=0.075), no statistical change at 30 days (corrected p=0.327) and a significant change at 90 days (corrected p=0.027) after SG as compared to baseline. There was a significant change in mean values of HOMA-IR at 30 days (corrected p=0.009) and at 90 days (corrected p=0.021) after the operation day. CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed important early changes consisting in reductions of mean values of plasma insulin and HOMA-IR after SG.

Increased chemerin and decreased omentin-1 levels in morbidly obese patients are correlated with insulin resistance, oxidative stress and chronic inflammation.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Morbid obesity represents a proinflammatory and pro-oxidative state associated with dysregulation of adipokines. We aimed to evaluate the circulating levels of chemerin and omentin-1 in morbidly obese (MO) patients and to investigate the relationship between these two adipokines and between each of them and anthropometric, metabolic, oxidative stress and chronic inflammatory parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 32 MO patients and 20 controls were investigated in this study. Anthropometric, metabolism parameters, inflammatory markers, oxidative stress indicators as well as chemerin and omentin-1 were measured. RESULTS: Serum levels of chemerin were increased while omentin-1 levels were decreased in MO patients when compared with controls. Chemerin correlated positively with insulin, HOMA-IR, LDL cholesterol and negatively with total antioxidant response. Omentin-1 correlated negatively with tumor necrosis factor alpha and total cholesterol. In a multiple linear stepwise regression analysis we learnt that only HOMA-IR (ß=0.70, p<0.001), total cholesterol (ß=0.42, p<0.001) and triglycerides (ß=0.31, p<0.05) remained significantly associated with chemerin changes. Using the same analysis we noticed that total cholesterol (ß=-0.71, p<0.001), fasting glucose (ß= -0.40, p<0.05) and body mass index (BMI) (ß= -0.38, p<0.05) were considered to be significant predictors for omentin-1 changes. CONCLUSIONS: Chemerin and omentin-1 synthesis was dysregulated in MO patients. Chemerin might play a role in insulin resistance and oxidative stress. Chemerin changes seemed to be predicted mainly by insulin resistance. Omentin-1 levels were inversely associated with chronic inflammation and dyslipidemia while the main modulating factors seemed to be dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and BMI.

Nitric oxide, oxidant status and antioxidant response in morbidly obese patients: the impact of 1-year surgical weight loss.

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to evaluate nitric oxide (NO) metabolites (nitrite/nitrate NO x ) as proinflammatory parameter and total oxidant status (TOS) as well as total antioxidant response (TAR) as oxidative stress (OS) markers in morbidly obese (MO) patients in comparison with normal-weight healthy (NWH) subjects and to determine the post-bariatric surgery changes of NO x and OS indicators in relation with weight loss. METHODS: We examined serum NO x , TOS, and TAR in a bariatric group of MO patients and a NWH control group (n = 23 each group). In the NWH group, serum was examined once, while in the MO group, serum was examined before and at 3, 6, and 12 months after silastic ring vertical gastroplasty (SRVG). RESULTS: Serum NO x and TOS values were higher (p < 0.001), while TAR level was lower (p < 0.001) in MO patients as compared to the NWH group. No significant changes occurred at 12 months after surgery in the MO group as far as the NO x (p = 0.93), TOS (p = 0.11), and TAR (p = 0.15) levels were concerned as compared to baseline values. However, NO x increased at 6 months after surgery (p < 0.008) and then decreased by the 12th month after SRVG (p < 0.008), reaching almost baseline values. CONCLUSIONS: At baseline, there was a high production of proinflammatory and OS markers in MO patients. SRVG surgical weight loss was not accompanied by significant changes of these parameters at 1 year after surgery.