Resolution of diabetes after bariatric surgery among predominantly African-American patients: race has no effect in remission of diabetes after bariatric surgery.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the relative efficacy in diabetes remission among predominantly African-American patients who have undergone one of the three different types of bariatric surgical procedures.

Methods: A total of 597 morbidly obese patients underwent one of the three bariatric surgical procedures at Harper University Hospital, Detroit, Michigan from 2008 to 2011. Of the three procedures, 203 (34%) patients had laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, 264 (44.2%) patients had laparoscopic gastric bypass, and 130 (21.8%) had laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. The prevalence of diabetes prior to surgery was 20.7, 17.4, and 24%, respectively. There was no statistical difference in the prevalence of diabetes among the three surgical groups.

Results: Of the 119 patients with diabetes, 46 (38.7%) were males and 73 (61.3%) were females. The majority of patients were African-Americans (65%). The average age of patients was 42.2 ± 8.3 years for sleeve gastrectomy, 44.8 ± 7.9 years for gastric banding, and 41.5 ± 7.7 years for gastric bypass surgery. Of all the study patients with a preoperative diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, 86 patients (72.3%) had resolution of diabetes 1 year after surgery. The resolution of diabetes was reported in 89.1, 66.7, and 54.8% of patients who underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and gastric banding, respectively.

Conclusions: This study, which was conducted among predominantly African-Americans, showed consistent results with other studies. Patients who underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass appeared to benefit the most in terms of achieving better remission of diabetes.