Bariatric Surgery in China: How Is This New Concept Going?

Background: Obesity has become an epidemic in developing countries including China. The use of bariatric surgery to treat obesity has grown in popularity worldwide, but it is still a new concept in China. This study aims to investigate the trends in bariatric surgery in China.

Methods: An electronic search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure was conducted to select studies for this survey.

Results: A total of 7779 bariatric procedures were reported from 2001 to 2015, most of which (89.2 %) were performed in the most recent 5 years. Further, 70.9 % of all procedures were performed to treat obesity and related comorbidities, defined as metabolic surgery. The data showed 89.4 % of all operations were performed laparoscopically. The absolute number of bariatric surgeries increased 148.7 times in the last 5 years compared to the 2001-2005 period. The percentage of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypasses performed increased from 0 to 62.2 %, and the percentage of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomies from 0 to 12.7 %. The percentage of laparoscopic adjustable gastric bands increased dramatically from 0 to 73.3 % in the 2006-2010 period, but it dropped quickly to 12.9 % in the 2011-2015 period. Most operations (66.7 %) were conducted in the East area, which is the most developed economic region in China. There was limited surgical innovation or original research reported in China.

Conclusions: Bariatric surgery is still at an early stage in China, but is now experiencing an explosive growth. A national registry system needs to be established to record and provide precise data.