ILLUSTRATIVE CASE
A 46-year-old woman presents with a body mass index (BMI) of 28 kg/m2, a 4-year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and a glycated hemoglobin (HgbA1c) of 9.8%. The patient is currently being treated with intensive medical therapy (IMT), including metformin 2000 mg/d, sitagliptin 100 mg/d, and insulin glargine 12 units/d, with minimal change in HgbA1c. Should you recommend bariatric surgery as an option for the treatment of diabetes?
One in 11 Americans has diabetes and at least 95% of those have type 2.2,3 The treatment of T2DM is generally multimodal in order to target the various mechanisms that cause hyperglycemia. Treatment strategies may include lifestyle modifications, decreasing insulin resistance, increasing secretion of insulin, insulin replacement, and targeting incretin-hormonal pathways.
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) currently recommends diet, exercise, and behavioral modifications as first-line therapy for the management of diabetes,2 but these by themselves are often inadequate. In addition to various pharmacotherapeutic strategies for other populations with T2DM (see the PURL, “How do these 3 diabetes agents compare in reducing mortality?”), the ADA recommends bariatric surgery for the treatment of patients with T2DM, a BMI ≥35 kg/m2, and uncontrolled hyperglycemia.2,4 However, this recommendation from the ADA supporting bariatric surgery is based only on short-term studies.
For example, one single-center nonblinded randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 60 patients with a BMI ≥35 kg/m2 found reductions in HgbA1C levels from the average baseline of 8.65±1.45% to 7.7±0.6% in the IMT group and to 6.4±1.4% in the gastric-bypass group at 2 years.5 In another study, a randomized double-blind trial involving 60 moderately obese patients (BMI, 25-35 kg/m2), gastric bypass had better outcomes than sleeve gastrectomy, with 93% of patients in the gastric bypass group achieving remission of T2DM vs 47% of patients in the sleeve gastrectomy group (P=.02) over a 12-month period.6
The current study sought to examine the long-term outcomes of IMT alone vs bariatric surgery with IMT for the treatment of T2DM in patients who are overweight or obese.1
STUDY SUMMARY
5-year follow-up shows surgery + intensive medical therapy works
This study by Schauer et al was a 5-year follow-up of a nonblinded, single-center RCT comparing IMT alone to IMT with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy in 150 patients with T2DM.1 Patients were included if they were 20 to 60 years of age, had a BMI of 27 to 43 kg/m2, and had an HgbA1C >7%. Patients with previous bariatric surgery, complex abdominal surgery, or uncontrolled medical or psychiatric disorders were excluded.
Each patient was randomly placed in a 1:1:1 fashion into 3 groups: IMT only, IMT and gastric bypass, or IMT and sleeve gastrectomy. All patients underwent IMT as defined by the ADA. The primary outcome was the number of patients with an HgbA1c ≤6%. Secondary outcomes included weight loss, glucose control, lipid levels, blood pressure, medication use, renal function, adverse effects, ophthalmologic outcomes, and quality of life.
Continue to: Of the 150 patients...
