Ten Years of Change in Bariatric/Metabolic Surgery in the Asia–Pacific Region with COVID-19 Pandemic: IFSO-APC National Reports 2021

Abstract

Background On November 25, 2021, the IFSO-Asia–Pacific Chapter (IFSO-APC) Virtual Meeting 2021 was held online, and the representatives from the Asia–Pacific region presented 10 years of change in bariatric/metabolic surgery and the influence of COVID-19 in the special session of “IFSO-APC National Reports 2010–2020”. We herein report the summarized data. Methods National bariatric/metabolic surgery data, which included the data of 2010 and 2020, were collected from the representatives using a questionnaire that consisted of 10 general questions. At the congress, the data were calculated and summarized. Results Thirteen of the 14 national societies responded to the survey. From 2010 to recent years, the populations of individuals with obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) and individuals with diabetes both significantly increased. Eight countries and regions expanded the lower limit of criteria for bariatric surgery by 2–5 kg/m2 (BMI), and 5 countries newly established criteria for metabolic surgery in the last ten years. Sixty-nine percent of the countries currently run public health insurance systems, which doubled from 2010. The number of bariatric surgeons and institutions increased more than threefold from 2010. In 2010, 2019, and 2020, surgeons in IFSO-APC societies performed 18,280, 66,010, and 49,553 bariatric/metabolic surgeries, respectively. Due to the COVID pandemic, restriction policies significantly reduced access to surgery in South and Southeast Asian countries. The biggest changes included increased numbers of bariatric surgeons and institutions, operation numbers, public insurance coverage, raising awareness, and national registry systems. Conclusion For the last 10 years, bariatric/metabolic surgery has rapidly grown in the Asia–Pacific region.

Evolution of Bariatric Surgery in Italy in the Last 11 Years: Data from the SICOB Yearly National Survey

“…Overall BS procedures have dropped only in 2019 and 2020; however, 2019 was the only year with a poor survey-response rate (only 73% of centers) and 2020 was plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar trends have been observed in other parts of the world such as the Asia–Pacific region [ 11 ].…”

“…Acknowledgements SICOB survey collaborative group collaborators: Arcudi Claudio MD 2 , Balani Alessandro MD 9 , Bellini Rosario MD 10 , Benavoli Domenico MD 2 , Berardi Giovanna MD 11 , Casella…”

Comparative Analysis of Various Weight Loss Success Criteria Models After Bariatric Metabolic Surgery in Korean Morbid Obese Patients

“…This phenomenon may be mainly because of the inevitable heterogeneity caused by the surgeon performing LSG, whereas LRYGB is a more standardized procedure. In addition, 44.5% of the patients underwent LRYGB in this study, which was higher than the average rate of 9.1% for RYGB conducted in the Asian-Pacific region [ 4 ].…”

“…Since national insurance coverage began for bariatric surgery in Korea in 2019, bariatric surgery cases have rapidly increased. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) are the most commonly performed bariatric surgeries in Korea [ 4 ].…”

Weight loss maintenance after bariatric surgery

“…In addition, the BMI threshold for MBS in the Asian population is lower because the prevalence of metabolic diseases in Asians is higher at lower BMIs than that in non-Asians[ 6 , 7 ]. Currently, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) are the standard surgical procedures for weight loss (WL) worldwide[ 8 , 9 ]. WL outcome of MBS is superior to that of other obesity treatments, including lifestyle interventions and anti-obesity drugs[ 10 , 11 ], and its durability has been proven in many studies[ 11 - 13 ].…”