A comparison of weight regain after bariatric surgery and sibutramine treatment: a literature review (2011-2021)

Abstract

Introduction: Obesity is a public health problem, with difficulties involved in its treatment. This requires changes in lifestyle, and may require complementary interventions, such as surgery, with gastric bypass as the gold standard, and drugs, with Sibutramine as a reference. Objectives: Compare data on weight regain after bariatric surgery and treatment with sibutramine in the last decade. Methods/Development: The SciELO and PubMed platforms were searched for weight regain after a follow-up period following use of sibutramine or gastric bypass between 2011 and 2021, using as inclusion criteria the presence of one of the two interventions analyzed and the demonstration of weight regain in a follow-up period, variable per study. Results/Discussion: Out of the 13 studies selected, 9 addressed bypass, and the percentage of patients with weight gain ranged from 25.7 to 100% in a follow-up period that lasted between 6 months and 10 years. Another 4 studies approached the use of Sibutramine, with the occurrence of weight regain after discontinuation of the drug, but without dosage details, as well as whether or not there was still some weight loss in relation to the initial body mass of the participants. Conclusion: The data allow us to infer that gastric bypass offers better results in weight loss and weight loss maintenance, when properly indicated, when compared to sibutramine. Neither method, however, proves to be able to replace effective changes in lifestyle.