The Effects of Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy on Body Mass Index (BMI) and Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) Levels

Background and significance Bariatric surgery is an effective surgical intervention for weight loss and metabolic improvement. Articles tackling obesity and bariatric surgery with its preoperative preferences and postoperative findings are needed. From that stance, we aim to accurately document the impact of bariatric surgery, particularly laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), on body mass index (BMI) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Patients and methods We present a retrospective cohort study conducted on 111 LSG patients from a total of 1633 patients who underwent bariatric surgery from January 23, 2018, to December 31, 2019, at King Saud University Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Patients were divided into three groups: nondiabetics, prediabetics, and diabetics. For each group, demographic characteristics as well as preoperative and postoperative BMI and HbA1c values were collected. Results The mean patient age was 41.35±11.8 years, with 56.8% being female. Our analysis showed that BMI values for all three groups had a significant and nearly similar overall decrease in value postoperatively (mean difference: 14.43, p<0.001). HbA1c levels also significantly improved, with the largest reduction seen in the diabetic group (from 8.7±1.5 to 6.6±1.4, p<0.001), followed by the prediabetic group (from 5.9±0.2 to 5.4±0.3, p<0.001) and the nondiabetic group (from 5.4±0.1 to 5.2±0.3, p=0.003). Conclusion LSG leads to significant improvements in BMI and HbA1c levels. Postoperatively, diabetic patients showed the greatest reduction in HbA1c percentage, supporting LSG's role in enhancing metabolic health.