[Metabolic surgery: an evolution (or revolution) of bariatric surgery?].

Bariatric surgery has proven its efficacy to obtain a marked and sustained weight loss and dramatically improves metabolic control in obese patients. The frequently observed remission of type 2 diabetes occurs very early, before any marked weight reduction. Increasing evidence suggests that this favourable effect results from profound changes in gut hormones involved in the regulation of energy intake behaviour and glucose homeostasis rather than simply from mechanical food restriction or malabsorption imposed by the surgical procedure. The better knowledge of these pathophysiological mechanisms, especially well studied with Roux-en Y gastric bypass, resulted in recent innovation in the technical procedures leading to a shift from bariatric surgery to metabolic surgery. Such type of surgery is currently evaluated in patients with type 2 diabetes, but with only a moderate obesity (BMI < 35 kg/m2), or even without obesity (BMI < 30 kg/m2). The Belgian Metabolic Intervention (BMI) Study Group would like to contribute very soon to this evaluation in a multidisciplinary approach.