UCLA study warns of GB surgery dangers

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- About 40 percent of patients are re-hospitalized within three years after having gastric bypass surgery in California, a UCLA study shows.

The rate is double that of hospitalizations before surgery.

The researchers attributed much of the hospitalization increases to the after-effects of gastric bypass surgery, including ventral hernia repair and GI tract symptoms, as well as an increase in elective surgical procedures such as plastic surgery, gallbladder removal and joint-replacement surgery.

Other studies have shown GB surgery helps to improve diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension and other conditions associated with morbid obesity, but little research has been done examining inpatient hospitalizations before and after the procedure.

The researchers found -- in a three-year patient follow-up of surgeries performed in more than 100 California hospitals -- only 8.4 percent were hospitalized in the year prior to surgery, but the rate doubled to 20.2 percent in the first year following surgery, dropping to 18.4 percent in the second year and 14.9 percent in the third year.

The number of GB operations performed in the state increased tenfold from 1995 to 2004.

As a result of the study, the researchers cautioned patients to consider possible complications carefully before electing the procedure.