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Rapid weight loss that occurs after bariatric surgery seems to have an unintended consequence — a greater risk of gallstones. The rapid loss of pounds was linked to a 10-fold increase in the hospital admissions for pancreatitis, gallstones and other gallbladder conditions.
Gallstones are common in post-bariatric surgery patients. Medications called bile acid sequestrants can help, but patients have to take them several times a day. In years past, surgeons often removed the gallbladder as part of weight-loss surgeries. However, as weight-loss surgeries have become less invasive, with smaller and smaller incisions, surgeons stopped taking the gallbladder out during the procedure.
The researchers looked at records from a national sample of inpatient admissions and found more than 1.5 million admissions for gallstones, other gallbladder conditions and acute pancreatitis from 2006 to 2014. The average patient age was between 52 and 64 years old.
The findings showed that there was a 10- to 100-fold higher risk of these conditions in people who had undergone weight-loss surgery. And the average patient age was 43 to 55. People who’d had weight-loss surgery were less likely to die, tended to stay less time in the hospital and their gallbladder disease tended to cost less to treat.
Obesity increases the risk of gallstones, so patients who have indications for bariatric surgery would have an increased risk of gallstones. Patients who have bariatric surgery may be at risk for gallstones that we have underappreciated before.