Bariatric Surgery and Reactive Hypoglycemia

Bariatric surgery has long been recognized as an effective treatment for grade 3 or grade 2 obesity associated with complications. Among the bariatric surgical procedures, roux-en-y gastric bypass (RYGB) was shown to account for 41% of all bariatric operations at least in the United Sates. Sleeve gastrectomy (SG), that was conceived as the first step before performing a RYGB or a biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch in patients who were super-obese, has recently emerged as a new restrictive bariatric procedure. Reactive hypoglycemia is a late complication affecting up to 72% of RYGB patients although it seems to occur also after SG, in about 3% of the cases. However, until now no prospective studies have investigated the incidence of hypoglycemia after RYGB nor randomized studies have been undertaken to compare the effect of SG to that of RYGB in terms of incidence of hypoglycemic episodes. The primary aim of the present study is to conduct a 1-year randomized trial to compare the incidence of hypoglycemia after RYGB or SG.