Lujain Alshareef¹*, Fadhel Alzahrani², Fatimah Al Luhaybi¹, Ghania Alfahmi¹, Sarah Alkashgry² and Alwahaj Khogeer²

¹Medical Intern, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
²Consultant of General Surgery, Upper GI and Bariatric Surgery, King Abdullah Medical City, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

*Corresponding Author: Lujain Alshareef, Medical Intern, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

Received: February 20, 2025; Published: April 21, 2025

Abstract

Background: Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG) is a widely utilized bariatric procedure for treating obesity and related comorbidities. However, the impact of lockdown during COVID-19 lockdowns on postoperative follow-up care and long-term outcomes of LSG, particularly in the Saudi Arabian population, remains underexplored. This study aims to evaluate the influence of follow-up care on weight loss, complication rate, and resolution comorbidities in patients undergoing LSG.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 148 patients who underwent LSG at King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, between May 1, 2019, and December 30, 2020. Patients were categorized into two groups based on the duration of follow-up: no follow-up (n = 54) and more than one year of follow-up (n = 94). Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, postoperative complications, and comorbidity resolution were compared between these two groups. The primary outcome measured was the reduction in Body Mass Index (BMI), while secondary outcomes included complication rates and the resolution of diabetes mellitus and hypertension.

Results: The mean BMI reduction was 13.43 ± 9.62 in the no-follow-up group and 14.34 ± 7.68 in the group with more than one year of follow-up, with no statistically significant difference observed (p = 0.527). Complications were more frequent in the follow-up group (77.1%) compared to the no-follow-up group (22.9%), approaching statistical significance (p = 0.051). Specific complications, such as leaks, bleeding, and weight regain, were observed only in the follow-up group. Additionally, the resolution of diabetes mellitus (80% vs. 20%) and hypertension (66.7% vs. 33.3%) was higher in the follow-up group, though these differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that regular follow-up care after LSG is important for early detecting and managing of post-operative complications. While no significant difference in BMI reduction was observed between the two groups, the higher prevalence of complications in the follow-up group underscores the importance of ongoing monitoring to optimize patient outcomes.

 Keywords: Obesity; World Health Organization (WHO); Saudi Arabia

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Citation

Citation: Lujain Alshareef., et al. “Impact of Post-Operative Follow-Up on Long-Term Outcomes of Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy in the Saudi Arabian Population: A Retrospective Cohort Study During the COVID-19 Era”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 9.5 (2025): 150-157.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Lujain Alshareef., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.