Bariatric Surgery Is Associated with Lower 10-Year Mortality in Patients with Substantial Comorbidity

Observational studies conducted mostly in women with minimal comorbidity suggest that bariatric surgery might lower all-cause mortality by 30% to 50% during 10 to 15 years of follow-up (NEJM JW Gen Med Aug 22 2007). However, a previous study, conducted mostly in male military veterans, suggested no mortality benefit from bariatric surgery during nearly 7 years of follow-up; that result prompted this expanded and extended retrospective cohort study. Researchers examined data on 2500 Veterans Affairs patients (74% men; mean age, 52; mean body-mass index, 47 kg/m²) with high levels of comorbidity who underwent bariatric surgery and matched them with 7462 medically managed patients. About three quarters of surgically treated patients received g…