Weight loss and metabolic improvements in obese patients undergoing gastric banding and gastric banded plication: A comparison.

OBJECTIVES: Obesity is a pandemic health problem. Bariatric surgery is the only efficient method for long-term effective weight loss in subjects with severe obesity. Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) has been widely applied for weight loss. However, a novel technique called laparoscopic adjustable gastric banded plication (LAGBP) has been proposed as an alternative to LAGB. Surgeons generally consider LAGBP to have a relative advantage on weight loss than that derived from LAGB. This initial study applied various biostatistical models and considered a relative longer observation period to compare the effects of LAGB and LAGBP.

METHODS: A total of 340 obese patients (290 who underwent LAGB and 50 who underwent LAGBP) with a body mass index of ≥35 kg/m2 and ages 20 to 55 y were recruited from the Division of General Surgery, Taipei Medical University Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan and observed for 24 to 36 mo postoperatively.

RESULTS: Both surgical procedures resulted in significant weight loss, amelioration of poor glucose metabolism, and decreased serum triacylglycerol levels. However, the trend analysis showed no significant differences between the postoperative effects of LAGB and LAGBP (P for trend = 0.21 for body mass index reduction, 0.13 for total body fat percentage reduction, 0.25-0.29 for glucose metabolism amelioration, and 0.10-0.29 for blood pressure improvement). Improvements in serum total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were observed after LAGB only and LAGBP only, respectively, at 24 mo postoperatively. The Framingham Coronary Heart Disease Risk score also showed significant decrease for patients who underwent LAGB and LAGBP.

CONCLUSIONS: Both LAGB and LAGBP demonstrated comparable efficacy in reducing body weight and improving metabolic parameters in a 24 to 36 mo follow-up period. LABG showed the ability to reduce systolic blood pressure and LAGBP exhibited triacylglycerol-lowering effects. A longer observational period is needed in future studies.