Evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on outcomes of conversion and revisional bariatric surgery: a Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) study.
Mélissa V Wills, Komol Chaivanijchaya, Juan S Barajas-Gamboa, Gabriela Restrepo-Rodas, Valentin Mocanu, Ayan Farah, Sol Lee, Salvador Navarrete, John Rodriguez, Matthew Allemang, Ricard Corcelles, Matthew Kroh, Andrew T Strong, Jerry Dang
{"title":"Evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on outcomes of conversion and revisional bariatric surgery: a Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) study.","authors":"Mélissa V Wills, Komol Chaivanijchaya, Juan S Barajas-Gamboa, Gabriela Restrepo-Rodas, Valentin Mocanu, Ayan Farah, Sol Lee, Salvador Navarrete, John Rodriguez, Matthew Allemang, Ricard Corcelles, Matthew Kroh, Andrew T Strong, Jerry Dang","doi":"10.1016/j.soard.2025.03.004","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted healthcare delivery worldwide, including bariatric surgery. While revisional procedures remained essential for weight recurrence and complications, practice patterns evolved during different phases of the pandemic.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on revisional bariatric procedures by comparing trends across pandemic (2020), vaccination rollout (2021), and postpandemic (2022) periods.</p><p><strong>Setting: </strong>Analysis of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) database, United States.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Retrospective analysis of 72,189 bariatric surgeries (of which 55,854 conversions and 16,335 revisions) from 2020 to 2022. Outcomes included surgical volume, indications, complications, and mortality.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 609,240 bariatric procedures, 72,189 (11.8%) were revisional or conversion procedures, with conversions representing 9.2% (55,854) and revisions 2.7% (16,335). The combined proportion remained stable (12.1%, 12.1%, 11.5%, P < .001), but urgent revision rates were higher during the pandemic (3.1% versus 2.2% versus 1.8%, P < .001). Pandemic-era cases focused on severe complications (fistula, perforation, stricture), shifting postpandemic toward weight recurrence and reflux. Sleeve-to-bypass conversions increased from 41.2% to 53.6%. Serious complications were highest in 2020-2021 (6.6%, 6.4%) compared to 2022 (5.8%, P < .001), while mortality remained unchanged (.15%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The study demonstrates distinct trends throughout pandemic periods, reflecting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on surgical urgency . While complication rates were slightly higher during the pandemic, procedures remained safe with stable mortality. Postpandemic shifts toward elective indications and increasing conversion procedures suggest adaptation to accumulated surgical needs.</p>","PeriodicalId":94216,"journal":{"name":"Surgery for obesity and related diseases : official journal of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Surgery for obesity and related diseases : official journal of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2025.03.004","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted healthcare delivery worldwide, including bariatric surgery. While revisional procedures remained essential for weight recurrence and complications, practice patterns evolved during different phases of the pandemic.
Objectives: To evaluate the effect of COVID-19 on revisional bariatric procedures by comparing trends across pandemic (2020), vaccination rollout (2021), and postpandemic (2022) periods.
Setting: Analysis of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) database, United States.
Methods: Retrospective analysis of 72,189 bariatric surgeries (of which 55,854 conversions and 16,335 revisions) from 2020 to 2022. Outcomes included surgical volume, indications, complications, and mortality.
Results: Of 609,240 bariatric procedures, 72,189 (11.8%) were revisional or conversion procedures, with conversions representing 9.2% (55,854) and revisions 2.7% (16,335). The combined proportion remained stable (12.1%, 12.1%, 11.5%, P < .001), but urgent revision rates were higher during the pandemic (3.1% versus 2.2% versus 1.8%, P < .001). Pandemic-era cases focused on severe complications (fistula, perforation, stricture), shifting postpandemic toward weight recurrence and reflux. Sleeve-to-bypass conversions increased from 41.2% to 53.6%. Serious complications were highest in 2020-2021 (6.6%, 6.4%) compared to 2022 (5.8%, P < .001), while mortality remained unchanged (.15%).
Conclusions: The study demonstrates distinct trends throughout pandemic periods, reflecting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on surgical urgency . While complication rates were slightly higher during the pandemic, procedures remained safe with stable mortality. Postpandemic shifts toward elective indications and increasing conversion procedures suggest adaptation to accumulated surgical needs.