Elderly patients can safely undergo gastric bypass surgery and can be expected to experience similar benefits from the operation as younger patients, according to background information in an article in the current issue of Archives of Surgery.
The percentage of the U.S. population with a body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) of 30 kg/m2 or greater, increased from an estimated 12 percent in 1991 to approximately 20 percent a decade later. Although some bariatric centers believe the risks of gastric bypass surgery outweigh the benefits in elderly patients, with the increase of life expectancy and the quality of life in older adults, the authors suggest the benefits of such surgery may need to be reconsidered.
Shawn D. St. Peter, M.D., and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Ariz., compared the results of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery in 110 patients younger than sixty years with 20 patients 60 years or older. The researchers examined patients' conditions and medications related to obesity both before and after the operation. In the younger group, the average age was 45 years, while in the older group, the average age was 62.5 years. At the time of operation, the average BMI was 46.4 kg/m2 in the older group and 48.2 kg/m2 in the younger group.