Predicting remission of diabetes after RYGB surgery following intensive management to optimize preoperative glucose control.

Background: The purpose of the study is to investigate the association of preoperative glucose optimization prior to a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and diabetes remission.

Methods: The study is a retrospective review of 245 patients with a history of diabetes type II and a RYGB from 2008 to 2012 at UMass Memorial Hospital.

Results: Patients that benefited from glucose optimization prior to RYGB were more likely to achieve diabetes remission 1 year after surgery. The preoperative glucose optimization intervention demonstrated that when patients decreased their HbA1c prior to surgery by 1 %, these individuals were 68 % more likely to remit (p = 0.015). Duration of diabetes (p = 0.005) and insulin use (p < 0.001) were also significant predictors of remission, whereas age, race, and gender were not.

Conclusions: Our study results indicate that a greater degree of glycemic improvement in response to presurgical medical intervention is associated with higher rates of diabetes remission post-operatively among obese adults with diabetes type II. Conversely, the lack of favorable glycemic response to intensification of medical management predicts a poor glycemic response to bariatric surgery. Further research is needed to determine if this difference is due to physiological factors or is simply an indicator of patient behavior.