The prevalence of obese individuals has increased worldwide in recent years. The most alarming cases are known as morbidly obese. An effective method to change the anthropometric characteristics of this population with excess body weight and high fat mass is bariatric surgery. The objective of this study was to analyze the body composition of morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery in the city of Pelotas, southern Brazil. In a prospective cohort study, a group of morbidly obese patients was followed up 30 days before and 30 days after surgery. The sample consisted of 123 patients who underwent vertical banded Roux-en-Y gastroplasty between April 2003 and May 2010. Body composition (fat percentage) was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis. The mean age of the patients was 36.1 ± 8.8 years and mean body weight loss was 14.1 ± 6.0 kg (p<0.001). The mean reduction in body mass index (BMI) was 5.2 ± 2.1 kg/m² (p<0.001). Body fat percentage and fat mass were reduced by 2.8% (p<0.001) and 9.7 ± 4.9 kg (p<0.001), respectively. In addition, there was a reduction of 4.4 ± 3.4 kg (p<0.001) in lean mass. We concluded that the surgical procedure significantly reduced body weight, BMI, fat percentage and fat mass and is an alternative when conventional treatments appear ineffective.
Adults; Bariatric surgery; Body composition; Morbid obesity
