Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Bariatric surgery (BS) is currently the most effective treatment for obesity. However, weight regain is a recognized challenge in post-surgical management. Drug treatment for weight regain after bariatric surgery has been used, but little published data is available on their efficacy. We have investigated the use of Liraglutide for relapse after BS in an Emirati population.

Methods: ICLDC patients with a previous history of bariatric surgery and a subsequent prescription of Liraglutide 3 mg formulation (Saxenda^™), with a minimum follow-up period of 12 weeks were identified from the electronic database. SPSS 25 was used for statistical analysis. Data are presented as median (interquartile range).

Results: Full 12 weeks follow-up data were available on 132 patients (76.5% laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, 22% gastric bypass surgery and 1.5% gastric banding). Baseline characteristics are summarised in Table 1. At 3 months of follow up, weight was 90.7 (81.0–102.2) kg, accounting for a weight loss of 3.9 (1.5–6.8) % of the baseline weight. In 44 patients with type 2 diabetes, HbA1c dropped by 0.1 (−0.2 to 0.3) %. 79 patients from the initial cohort had 6 months follow-up data also available and showed a total weight loss of 4.9 (1.1–8.2) % from pre-liraglutide weight. Age, sex and type of BS had little or no effect on the weight loss following liraglutide therapy.

Conclusion: In the Emirati population studied, liraglutide treatment was efficacious as an adjuvant treatment modality for weight loss after bariatric surgery.