Is Weight Regain Common After Gastric Sleeve or Bypass Surgery?

Actually, weight regain is a natural phenomenon. Obesity is a genetic, metabolic, physiological, chronic condition, so the disease persists in the body in spite of any kind of treatment, diet, medication or bariatric surgery.

All patients lose significant amount of weight at the end of two years. However, the weight regain depends on the time at which the person intervenes with bariatric surgery. If bariatric surgery decision is taken too late at a very, very high BMI, obviously like any other disease, if you delay the treatment, maybe the results are suboptimal and weight regain can happen.

Generally, scientific data suggests that laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy has a slightly higher rate of weight regain than gastric bypass because sleeve is only on the procedure on the stomach and gastric bypass has two components, stomach as well as intestines. However, weight regain is possible over years after any of these procedures. There are protocols of treatment to prevent weight regain.

They are in the form of oral anti-obesity medications, injectable anti-obesity medication intervening at the right time. However, if the treatment is given before significant weight regain starts, the results are excellent. But if a patient approaches after sleeve or a gastric bypass after significant weight loss, then one can offer a second stage bariatric procedure or try with higher doses of near anti-obesity medications.

Even though there is some weight regain, it is very important to understand that all the diseases associated with obesity, comorbidities, they still remain improved for a longer period. Weight regain is not a failure. It is a progression of a disease just like cancer.

And one has to keep on treating it with a center of excellence or an obesity expert for a longer duration, maybe for many years. To give you an example, a patient of 200 kg comes down to 90 kilograms and over seven to eight years goes to 140 kg. He is still 60 kg less than his ideal weight, his diabetes, sleep apnea, everything will be much improved.

If you start treating himself when his weight is at 110 from 90, success is better rather than start treatment after gaining weight to 140 or 150 kg from 90. This is the difference. But luckily in today’s era, in the hands of experts, there is a successful solution to anyone to come back to 90 kg.

And there are surgeons with high volume and long duration experience who can offer second stage placebo to such patients and then they can maintain weight loss at an original level or maybe lower than that for a longer period.