Better targeting of obesity surgery

A new method of analysing subcutaneous fat may allow doctors to better predict which patients will respond well in terms of weight loss to obesity (bariatric) surgery.

Bariatric surgery (BS) involves different surgical techniques which all reduce the size of the stomach, and have been found to lead to major, long-term weight loss and reduced mortality in most, but not all severely obese patients, and in some individuals weight regain occurs.

In order to improve patient care, there is a need to identify factors that can predict those individuals who are classed as poor responders to BS, and who may benefit more from better preparation to the surgery or more intensive follow-up. While preoperative factors, such as age, the presence and severity of type 2 diabetes, and psychological issues are known to influence the degree of weight loss after BS, they have been found to explain only 14% of the resulting weight loss variability.