Background

Obesity is a risk factor for the development of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Bariatric surgery (BaS) decreases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with severe obesity and appears to improve some of the electrophysiological alterations associated with obesity. This study aims to analyze the rate of hospitalization due to ventricular arrhythmias after BaS.

Methods

National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data collected from 2010 to 2015 was examined. Patients were classified in two groups: Treatment subjects were defined as patients with previous history of BaS, and control subjects as patients with BMI >= 35, without history of BaS. Hospitalizations with ventricular tachycardia as a primary diagnosis were identified. Secondary outcomes included the length of stay (LOS), and total cost of the hospitalization. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess the differences between groups.

Results

There were 2,300,845 subjects, 2,004,804 controls and 296,041 treatments. The rate of hospitalization due to ventricular tachycardia in treatment group was lower compared to control (0.11% [n=317] vs. 0.15% [n=3015], p<0.0001); this association was found to be statistically non-significant after multivariate analysis (OR 1.10, CI: 0.97-1.25). Further analysis revealed decreased incidence of total hospitalization cost of over $45000 (OR 1.43, CI: 1.10-1.85) and LOS>=5 days (OR= 1.39, CI: 1.06-1.82) in the treatment group.

Conclusions

Patients undergoing BaS had a lower incidence of ventricular arrhythmias, but the likelihood of hospitalization was not significant. Nevertheless, BaS may decrease the cost and LOS when hospitalization is required. Further prospective studies are needed to better describe our results.