Patients With Diabetes Have Comparable Health Expenses After RYGB or Sleeve Gastrectomy

TUESDAY, Jan. 28, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with diabetes undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG), overall expenditures decrease in the postsurgical period, with no differences seen following the first six months after surgery, according to a study published online Jan. 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Matthew L. Maciejewski, Ph.D., of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues compared health expenditures three years before and 5.5 years after bariatric surgery among patients with diabetes undergoing RYGB (3,147 patients) or SG (3,510 patients) from 2012 to 2019.

The researchers found that per six-month period, there was about a 30 percent decrease in expenditures for both groups, from $4,039.06 to $2,441.13 before and after RYGB and from $3,918.37 to $2,658.15 before and after SG. Through 5.5 years, there was no significant difference between the groups in total expenditures after surgery, except for the first six months, when expenditures were transiently higher in the RYGB group (difference, $564.32). This was driven by a higher rate of inpatient admission. Postsurgical outpatient and medication expenditures did not differ between the groups.

“These findings suggest that RYGB and SG do not substantially differ in reducing long-term health care costs for patients with type 2 diabetes,” the authors write. “The substantial cost savings observed are primarily driven by reductions in medication expenditures, highlighting the economic benefits of bariatric surgery in managing diabetes.”

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)