Till Örebro universitet

BACKGROUND: Although bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in patients with morbid obesity, further studies are needed to evaluate factors influencing the chance of achieving diabetes remission. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between T2D duration and the chance of achieving remission of T2D after bariatric surgery.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a nationwide register-based cohort study including all adult patients with T2D and BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 who received primary bariatric surgery in Sweden between 2007 and 2015 identified through the Scandinavian Obesity Surgery Registry. The main outcome was remission of T2D, defined as being free from diabetes medication or as complete remission (HbA1c < 42 mmol/mol without medication). In all, 8,546 patients with T2D were included. Mean age was 47.8 ± 10.1 years, mean BMI was 42.2 ± 5.8 kg/m2, 5,277 (61.7%) were women, and mean HbA1c was 58.9 ± 17.4 mmol/mol. The proportion of patients free from diabetes medication 2 years after surgery was 76.6% (n = 6,499), and 69.9% at 5 years (n = 3,765). The chance of being free from T2D medication was less in patients with longer preoperative duration of diabetes both at 2 years (odds ratio [OR] 0.80/year, 95% CI 0.79-0.81, p < 0.001) and 5 years after surgery (OR 0.76/year, 95% CI 0.75-0.78, p < 0.001). Complete remission of T2D was achieved in 58.2% (n = 2,090) at 2 years, and 46.6% at 5 years (n = 681). The chance of achieving complete remission correlated negatively with the duration of diabetes (adjusted OR 0.87/year, 95% CI 0.85-0.89, p < 0.001), insulin treatment (adjusted OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.20-0.31, p < 0.001), age (adjusted OR 0.94/year, 95% CI 0.93-0.95, p < 0.001), and HbA1c at baseline (adjusted OR 0.98/mmol/mol, 95% CI 0.97-0.98, p < 0.001), but was greater among males (adjusted OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.29-1.90, p < 0.001) and patients with higher BMI at baseline (adjusted OR 1.07/kg/m2, 95% CI 1.05-1.09, p < 0.001). The main limitations of the study lie in its retrospective nature and the low availability of HbA1c values at long-term follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found that remission of T2D after bariatric surgery was inversely associated with duration of diabetes and was highest among patients with recent onset and those without insulin treatment.

BACKGROUND: Although a large proportion of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) who have undergone metabolic surgery experience initial remission some patients later suffer from relapse. While several factors associated with T2D remission are known, less is known about factors that may influence relapse.

OBJECTIVES: To identify possible risk factors for T2D relapse in patients who initially experienced remission.

SETTING: Nationwide, registry-based study.

METHODS: We conducted a nationwide registry-based retrospective cohort study including all adult patients with T2D and body mass index ≥35 kg/m² who received primary metabolic surgery with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or sleeve gastrectomy (SG) in Sweden between 2007 and 2015. Patients who achieved complete diabetes remission 2 years after surgery was identified and analyzed. Main outcome measure was postoperative relapse of T2D, defined as reintroduction of diabetes medication.

RESULTS: In total, 2090 patients in complete remission at 2 years after surgery were followed for a median of 5.9 years (interquartile range [IQR] 4.3-7.2 years) after surgery. The cumulative T2D relapse rate was 20.1%. Duration of diabetes (hazard ratio [HR], 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-1.14; P < .001), preoperative glycosylated hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) level (HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00-1.02; P = .013), and preoperative insulin treatment (HR, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.84-3.90; P < .001) were associated with higher rates for relapse, while postoperative weight loss (HR, .93; 95% CI, .91-.96; P < .001), and male sex (HR, .65; 95% CI, .46-.91; P = .012) were associated with lower rates.

CONCLUSION: Longer duration of T2D, higher preoperative HbA1C level, less postoperative weight loss, female sex, and insulin treatment prior to surgery are risk factors for T2D relapse after initial remission.

BACKGROUND: Symptomatic postbariatric hypoglycemia (PBH) is a known complication that can occur a few years after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). There is currently no established rating scale for PBH-associated symptoms developed for use in Swedish populations. The aim of the study was to translate an already existing questionnaire into Swedish and to test its reliability.

METHODS: The study included forward and backward translations of the original Dumping Severity Scale (DSS) questionnaire with 8 items regarding symptoms of early dumping and 6 items regarding hypoglycemia, with each item graded on a 4-point Likert scale. The reliability of the Swedish translated questionnaire (DSS-Swe) was estimated using internal consistency and test-retest methods.

RESULTS: A total of 200 patients were included in the study. Good internal consistency was demonstrated regarding the items related to early dumping symptoms, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.82, and very good agreement in terms of test-retest reliability, with an overall intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.91 (95% CI 0.88-0.93). The items related to hypoglycemia yielded a good Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.76 and an ICC of 0.89 (95% CI 0.85-0.91).

CONCLUSION: The DSS-Swe questionnaire shows good reliability regarding both internal consistency and test-retest performance for use in Swedish populations.

Dumping and post-bariatric hypoglycaemia (PBH) are side effects that occur after bariatric surgery. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of dumping and PBH symptoms before Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) at 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 5 years after surgery in a Swedish population. A cross-sectional single-centre study was performed at Lindesberg Hospital, Region Örebro County, Sweden, between 2020 and 2023. The Swedish version of the Dumping Severity Scale (DSS-Swe) questionnaire, which includes eight items regarding dumping symptoms and six items regarding hypoglycaemia symptoms, was used. A total of 742 DSS-Swe questionnaires were included. The average age at surgery was 42.0 years (standard deviation [SD] = 11.9), and the average body mass index was 41.8 kg/m2 (SD = 5.9). The surgical methods consisted of RYGB (66.3%) and SG (33.7%). The proportion of RYGB patients with highly suspected dumping increased from 4.9% before surgery to 26.3% (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 7.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.08-17.52) at the 5-year follow-up. PBH symptoms increased from 1.4% before surgery to 19.3% at the 5-year follow-up (adjusted OR = 17.88, 95% CI = 4.07-78.54). For SG patients, no significant increase in dumping or PBH symptoms was observed. In patients with persistent type 2 diabetes (T2D), there were no cases of highly suspected hypoglycaemia following RYGB or SG. Symptoms of dumping and PBH were common after RYGB, while no clear increase was observed after SG. Persistent T2D seems to be a protective factor against PBH symptoms.