Bariatric Surgery Procedures
Results:
123 bariatric surgery procedures were performed from May 2008 to December 2011. All procedures were completed laparoscopically. 27 patients had obstructive sleep apnoea. Out of these18 patients were previously diagnosed to have OSAHS while nine patients with an ESS of more than 11 were referred for a sleep study, which confirmed OSAHS. One patient was on sedative medications and was therefore excluded from the study (Figure1). The response rate for the survey was 81%(21/26). The details of these patients are given in Table 1. The follow up period was 8-34months.
Changes in Epworth Sleepiness Score
There was a significant drop in the overall ESS of patients undergoing bariatric surgery. The mean postoperative ESS was 6.33, which was …show more content…
Long term follow up studies are required to further elaborate the impact of bariatric surgery on resolution of OSAHS. We also recommend Epworth Sleepiness Score as a screening tool for assessment of all patients being considered for bariatric surgery. Patients with ESS more than 11 should be referred for sleep study, as it is an effective instrument used to measure average daytime sleepiness. There is a high level of internal consistency between the eight items in the ESS as measured by Cronbach’s alpha, ranging from 0.74 to 0.88. Numerous studies using the ESS have supported high validity and reliability.
The authors appreciate that there are a few shortcomings of this study. Firstly a better assessment tool for OSAHS is an overnight oximetry or a sleep study, which should ideally be performed on all patients with sleep apnoea before and after surgery. Secondly, a control group comparing bariatric surgery and non-surgical measures of treating OSAHS would make the results even more reliable. There may also be a selection bias in this cohort of patients as these surgeries were performed at a single centre, where follow up of patients is stringent and some patients failed to return the questionnaire, this may have influenced the questionnaire-based results. However now that bariatric surgery is increasingly being performed and its awareness as a feasible option to treat OSAHS is increasing, there is a potential for future more robust
123 bariatric surgery procedures were performed from May 2008 to December 2011. All procedures were completed laparoscopically. 27 patients had obstructive sleep apnoea. Out of these18 patients were previously diagnosed to have OSAHS while nine patients with an ESS of more than 11 were referred for a sleep study, which confirmed OSAHS. One patient was on sedative medications and was therefore excluded from the study (Figure1). The response rate for the survey was 81%(21/26). The details of these patients are given in Table 1. The follow up period was 8-34months.
Changes in Epworth Sleepiness Score
There was a significant drop in the overall ESS of patients undergoing bariatric surgery. The mean postoperative ESS was 6.33, which was …show more content…
Long term follow up studies are required to further elaborate the impact of bariatric surgery on resolution of OSAHS. We also recommend Epworth Sleepiness Score as a screening tool for assessment of all patients being considered for bariatric surgery. Patients with ESS more than 11 should be referred for sleep study, as it is an effective instrument used to measure average daytime sleepiness. There is a high level of internal consistency between the eight items in the ESS as measured by Cronbach’s alpha, ranging from 0.74 to 0.88. Numerous studies using the ESS have supported high validity and reliability.
The authors appreciate that there are a few shortcomings of this study. Firstly a better assessment tool for OSAHS is an overnight oximetry or a sleep study, which should ideally be performed on all patients with sleep apnoea before and after surgery. Secondly, a control group comparing bariatric surgery and non-surgical measures of treating OSAHS would make the results even more reliable. There may also be a selection bias in this cohort of patients as these surgeries were performed at a single centre, where follow up of patients is stringent and some patients failed to return the questionnaire, this may have influenced the questionnaire-based results. However now that bariatric surgery is increasingly being performed and its awareness as a feasible option to treat OSAHS is increasing, there is a potential for future more robust