Severe Obesity and Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment Options before the Bariatric Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract Background Obesity is an epidemic issue worldwide which has various complications and comorbidities. Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a well-known metabolic disorder among patients with severe obesity. While they are good candidates for bariatric surgery, this deficiency can affect the outcomes of surgery negatively. Objectives The aim of this study was to compare three different VDD treatment strategies, before the bariatric surgery and comparing serum Vitamin D levels after 7 weeks. Settings University Hospital, Isfahan, Iran Methods This was a single-blinded randomized clinical-trial on 100 patients who referred for bariatric surgery from 2016 to 2018. Vitamin D (VitD) level was checked before the surgery with the patients included in the study if their VitD level was th week after seven weeks of treatment. The participants were randomly allocated into three groups: 33 patients were treated with 50,000 units VitD 3 capsule every week for seven weeks; 33 patients were treated with a single dose of 300,000 units VitD 3 ampoule; and 34 patients were treated with a combination of a half of the injection dose followed by oral capsule for four weeks. Results No case was lost during the follow-up time. No significant differences were found between the three groups in terms of their age (P=0.654), body mass index (P=0.434), gender (P=0.799), initial 25 (OH) VitD level (P=0.273), and history of supplement use (P=0.45). Mean serum VitD levels were 15.21, 13.16, and 13.37 ng/ml before the surgery and reached 32.91, 24.74, and 29.49 ng/ml after seven weeks of treatment in oral, injection, and combined groups respectively. Finally, 7-week oral treatment option had significantly higher levels of VitD (P-value=0.034). Conclusion VDD treatment with 50,000 units VitD 3 capsule every week for seven weeks before the bariatric surgery yields a higher level of VitD. Based on our findings, injecting products is not recommended for VDD treatment.