Effects of gastric bypass surgery in patients with type 2 diabetes and only mild obesity

OBJECTIVE Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) ameliorates type 2 diabetes in severely obese patients through mechanisms beyond just weight loss, and it may benefit less obese diabetic patients. We determined the long-term impact of RYGB on patients with diabetes and only class I obesity. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Sixty-six consecutively selected diabetic patients with BMI 30–35 kg/m 2 underwent RYGB in a tertiary-care hospital and were prospectively studied for up to 6 years (median 5 years [range 1–6]), with 100% follow-up. Main outcome measures were safety and the percentage of patients experiencing diabetes remission (HbA 1c RESULTS Participants had severe, longstanding diabetes, with disease duration 12.5 ± 7.4 years and HbA 1c 9.7 ± 1.5%, despite insulin and/or oral diabetes medication usage in everyone. For up to 6 years following RYGB, durable diabetes remission occurred in 88% of cases, with glycemic improvement in 11%. Mean HbA 1c fell from 9.7 ± 1.5 to 5.9 ± 0.1% ( P CONCLUSIONS This is the largest, longest-term study examining RYGB for diabetic patients without severe obesity. RYGB safely and effectively ameliorated diabetes and associated comorbidities, reducing cardiovascular risk, in patients with a BMI of only 30–35 kg/m 2 .