Bariatric surgery effective in reducing sleep apnea severity: Study
Brazil: Bariatric surgery in patients with obesity grade 1 to 2 is effective in reducing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) severity and is associated with substantial, sustained weight loss, finds a recent study in the International Journal of Obesity.
Evidence of the effect of bariatric surgery in obstructive sleep apnea is based on observational studies and/or short-term follow-up in patients with obesity grade 3. Luciano F. Drager, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues aimed to compare the effects of roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or usual care (UC) on OSA severity in patients with obesity grade 1–2 in a randomized study.
Mild, moderate, and severe OSA was defined by the apnea-hypopnoea index (AHI): 5–14.9; 15–29.9, and ≥30 events/h, respectively. OSA remission was defined by converting any form of OSA into normal AHI (<5 events/h).
Key findings of the study include:
· After 3-year of follow-up, the body-mass index increased in the UC while decreased in the RYGB group: +1.7 (−1.9; 2.7) versus −10.6 (−12.7; −9.2) kg/m2, respectively.
· The AHI increased by 5 (−4.2; 12.7) in the UC group while reduced in the RYGB group to −13.2 (−22.7; −7) events/h.
· UC significantly increase the frequency of moderate OSA (from 15.4 to 46.2%).
· RYGB had a huge impact on reaching no OSA status (from 4.2 to 70.8%) in parallel to a decrease of moderate (from 41.7 to 8.3%) and severe OSA (from 20.8 to 0%).
"RYGB is an attractive strategy for mid-term OSA remission or decrease moderate-to-severe forms of OSA in patients with obesity grade 1–2," wrote the authors.
Reference:
The study titled, "Three-year effects of bariatric surgery on obstructive sleep apnea in patients with obesity grade 1 and 2: a sub-analysis of the GATEWAY trial," is published in the International Journal of Obesity.
DOI: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-021-00752-2
