Bariatric surgery linked to lower mortality for older patients

Editor's Note

Gastric bypass surgery was associated with improved long-term survival for patients aged 35 years and older in this study.

In the analysis of nearly 16,000 patients—8,000 who had gastric bypass surgery and 8,000 who did not have surgery—researchers found mortality benefits varied by age.

Those who were:

• younger than 35 years of age had no survival benefit
• 35 to 44 years of age had a 46% lower risk of death
• 44 to 54 years of age had a 57% lower risk of death
• 55 to 74 years of age had a 50% lower risk of death.

The lack of mortality benefit for those younger than 35 years of age was primarily because of a significantly higher number of externally caused deaths (eg, accidental injuries, assaults, and suicides), particularly among women.

Importance Bariatric surgery is effective in reducing all-cause and cause-specific long-term mortality. Whether the long-term mortality benefit of surgery applies to all ages at which surgery is performed is not known. Objective To examine whether gastric bypass surgery is equally effective in reducing mortality in groups undergoing surgery at different ages.