Binge eating disorder is not predictive of alcohol abuse disorders in long-term follow-up period after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.

Introduction: Some studies have shown an increase in alcohol use disorders (AUD) after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB), but its relationship with binge eating disorder (BED) has not been fully explored. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of AUD and BED after RYGB and also to evaluate if BED is predictive of late postoperative occurrence of AUD or BED.

Methods: Patients (n = 46) submitted to RYGB, in a tertiary outpatient weight management service at a Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, were tested for BED and AUD using the Questionnaire on Eating and Weight Patterns-Revised (QEWP-R) and AUDIT, respectively. BED was tested before surgery, while both disorders were evaluated with a follow-up period of 12 ± 1.6 years after RYGB.

Results: No patients reported AUD before RYBP. After a mean period of 12 years from surgery, ten patients (21.7%) were diagnosed with AUD. Before surgery, BED was present in 24 patients (52.2%) and it was detected in seven out of these 24 patients (29.2%) after RYGB. Thirteen new cases of BED (28.2%) were detected after surgery; total of 20 patients (43.5%) with BED. No association was found between pre- and postsurgery BED (p = 0.148). After RYGB, four out of 24 patients (16.6%) with presurgery BED developed AUD, and no association was found between presurgery BED and postsurgery AUD (p = 0.384). Seven out of ten patients (70%) with AUD after RYGB also developed BED, but no statistical significance was found between these two disorders (p = 0.061).

Conclusion: The presence of BED before RYGB did not predict AUD and BED after RYGB. Nevertheless, factors involved in a possible association between BED and AUD after surgery remain to be determined.

Level Of Evidence: Level III, cohort study.