title: Durability of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery: a meta-regression study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present meta-regression pools data from reports of long-term follow-up (>2 years) to assess durability of the efficacy associated with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medline and PubMed searches for articles pertaining to long-term weight loss after RYGB surgery were performed.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Various studies have consistently shown short-term (<2 years) efficacy of RYGB surgery for morbid obesity, corroborated by meta-analytic techniques. Relatively few studies have assessed efficacy over longer periods of time. This is the first meta-analysis to analyze long-term effects of RYGB surgery on weight loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-two reports with a total of 4206 patient cases were included. Sixteen of the 22 studies had multiple follow-up times, ranging from 2 to 12.3 years (mean: 3.6 years). An inverse variance weighted model and meta-regression were used to generate the pooled percent mean excess weight loss (EWL) and the durability of EWL over time, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Meta-regression did not reveal any significant change in EWL over time. Pooled mean EWL was 66.5%, and there was no significant association between EWL and length of follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pooling data from multiple studies meta-analytically revealed that weight loss after RYGB is maintained over the long-term. Further investigation would be necessary to ascertain similar durability in comorbidity reduction after RYGB surgery.
authors.affiliation: Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Attiah
authors.forename: Casey H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.forename: Usha
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Balmuri
authors.forename: Piergiuseppe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vinai
authors.forename: Shivan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Gordon H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Baltuch
authors.forename: Noel N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Wadden
authors.forename: Sherman C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015390:Gastric Bypass / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D017594:Publication Bias; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015431:Weight Loss