Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: limb length and weight loss.

Background: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is a surgical technique widely used in the treatment of obesity. It is unclear, however, if the length of the biliopancreatic and alimentary limb interferes with the magnitude of weight loss.

Aim: To evaluate if the length of these limbs is related to the percentage of weight loss one year after surgery.

Method: One hundred and twenty obese people underwent surgery between 2009 and 2011. Patients were inserted into four groups: A) biliopancreatic limb with 50 cm length and alimentary limb with 100 cm length; B) biliopancreatic limb with 50 cm length and alimentary limb with 150 cm length; C) biliopancreatic limb with 100 cm length and alimentary limb with 100 cm length; D) biliopancreatic limb with 100 cm length and alimentary limb with 150 cm length. Age, gender, body mass index and the percentage of total weight loss were analyzed. Data were collected preoperatively and one year after surgery. The groups were compared and weight loss compared between groups.

Results: The follow-up occurred in 78.3% of the sample. The composition of the groups was similar, with no statistical significance. The average age was 43 years in groups A, C and D and 42 years in group B. The female gender predominated in all groups (about 60% of the sample). The mean body mass index was 46 kg/m2 for groups A, C and D and 42 kg/m2 in group B. The percentage of weight loss was 33% for group A and 34% for groups B, C and D. There was no significant difference among groups.

Conclusion: Different lengths of the biliopancreatic and alimentary limbs did not affect the percentage of total weight loss.