Evaluation of the Short-Term Effect of Bariatric Surgery on the Level of HbA1c

Background: Obesity is one of the most common diseases in the world, and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is one of the common complications of obesity. Bariatric surgery is one of the main treatments for the obese. It is recommended that this procedure can improve the status of T2DM, but there is limited data about the short-term effects of bariatric surgery on T2DM status. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the short-term effect of bariatric surgery on the level of HbA1c as a parameter of the status of T2DM during 6 months. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study that was conducted on patients who underwent bariatric surgery in Mortaz and Mojibinia Hospitals (Yazd-Iran) from 2016 to 2020 to evaluate the short-term effect of bariatric surgery on HbA1C level, patients who were candidates for performing bariatric surgery were evaluated for 6 months. Age, sex, body mass index (BMI) before surgery, and surgery types (sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass) were recorded. The patients were followed up for six months, and HbA1C was assessed before the operation, at 3 months, and at 6 months after the surgery. All data was recorded and analyzed by SPSSv.25, and the significance level was considered less than 0.05. Results: A total of 713 patients were assessed (27 in the sleeve gastrectomy group and 286 in gastric bypass surgery). The mean level of HbA1C was 8.59±1.85 % at the baseline, and it decreased to 8.41±1.85 % after 3 months (P-value: 0.06). After 6th month, the HbA1C level decreased to 7.79±5.04 %, significantly decreasing from the baseline (P-values 0.05). There was no association between the type of bariatric surgery (sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass) and the amount of HbA1C reduction (P-values 0.05). Conclusion: Bariatric surgery reduces HbA1C level, and a significant reduction can be seen after 6 months. Sleeve gastrectomy and gastric bypass have similar effects in terms of HbA1C improvement.