Three-year effects of bariatric surgery on obstructive sleep apnea in patients with obesity grade 1 and 2: a sub-analysis of the GATEWAY trial.

BACKGROUND Most of the evidence on bariatric surgery on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is based on observational studies and/or short-term follow-up in patients with obesity grade 3. SUBJECTS/METHODS This randomized study compared the effects of roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or usual care (UC) on OSA severity in patients with obesity grade 1-2. Mild, moderate, and severe OSA was defined by the apnea-hypopnoea index (AHI): 5-14.9; 15-29.9, and ≥30 events/h, respectively. OSA remission was defined by converting any form of OSA into normal AHI (<5 events/h). RESULTS After 3-year of follow-up, the body-mass index increased in the UC while decreased in the RYGB group: +1.7 (-1.9; 2.7) versus -10.6 (-12.7; -9.2) kg/m2, respectively. The AHI increased by 5 (-4.2; 12.7) in the UC group while reduced in the RYGB group to -13.2 (-22.7; -7) events/h. UC significantly increase the frequency of moderate OSA (from 15.4 to 46.2%). In contrast, RYGB had a huge impact on reaching no OSA status (from 4.2 to 70.8%) in parallel to a decrease of moderate (from 41.7 to 8.3%) and severe OSA (from 20.8 to 0%). CONCLUSIONS RYGB is an attractive strategy for mid-term OSA remission or decrease moderate-to-severe forms of OSA in patients with obesity grade 1-2.