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Purpose: Data reported on comparing primary and revisional procedures in the elderly is still limited. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety between primary and revisional bariatric surgery in a cohort of older patients., Materials and Methods: All patients ≥ 60 years old were divided into two cohorts, primary surgery cohort (PSC) and revisional surgery cohort (RSC). Baseline and perioperative outcomes were analyzed., Results: Fifty-eight patients were included (34 PSC and 24 RSC) in the study. Forty-two (25 PSC and 17 RSC) 72.4% were female. The mean age was 64 (± 3.3 years) in the PSC and 65 (± 4.2 years) in the RSC, the median initial BMI was 46.7 and 47.4 kg/m 2 (p < 0.848), respectively. The mean hospital stay was (3 PSC vs. 5 RSC, p < 0.022) days. Readmissions occurred in (1 PSC vs. 3 RSC, p = 0.158) patients within 30 days of discharge. Postoperative major complications included (1 PSC vs. 5 RSC, p < 0.0278) patients. Reoperations were reported in (0 PSC vs. 3 RSC, p < 0.034) patients. Patients who underwent surgery for weight management, the initial mean BMI was (46.7 PSC vs. 47.4 RSC kg/m2, p = 0.848). At 12-months post-procedure, the mean BMI was (34.3 PSC vs. 37.7 RSC kg/m2, p = 0.372) and (23.7 PSC vs. 19.1 RSC, p = 0.231) %TBWL. The mean overall follow-up was (12.4 PSC vs. 27.5 RSC, p < 0.004) months, and one unrelated death (cancer) was reported in the RSC., Conclusion: PSC and RSC are effective in the elderly, however postoperative complications occurred more often in the RSC group., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Ramadan is characterized by a month of fasting between dawn and sunset. Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is located in the United Arab Emirates, where the majority of our patients observe Ramadan. In many practices, bariatric surgery has been delayed until after Ramadan in order to avoid postoperative complications. However, there are no studies that evaluate this theory., Objectives: Our study aimed to evaluate perioperative outcomes between bariatric surgeries performed before/during Ramadan and at times distant to Ramadan., Methods: All patients who underwent primary bariatric surgery at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi between September 2015 and July 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The Pre-Ramadan (PR) cohort included patients that underwent surgery during the month of Ramadan and up to 3 months before Ramadan. The Non-Ramadan (NR) cohort included patients from the remainder 8 months., Results: Our study included 542 patients: 185 patients in the PR cohort and 357 patients in the NR cohort. Baseline characteristics were similar. There were no statistically significant differences in perioperative outcomes, including emergency department (ED) visits (23.2% PR vs. 24.4% NR, p = .77), readmission rates (2.2% PR vs. 4.5% NR, p = .17), reoperation (1.1% PR vs. 3.6% NR, p = .09), and complications within 30 days (3.8% PR vs. 7.0% NR, p = .13)., Conclusions: There is no difference among patients who undergo surgery before/during Ramadan and at times distant to Ramadan. Based on this data, there does not appear to be an increased risk of performing bariatric surgery prior to or during Ramadan in a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary program.

Background: Many patients considering bariatric surgery will obtain medical information through the Internet. The type and quality of information patients access may vary significantly by geographic region., Methods: Searches were performed using commercial search engines in both the United States of America (USA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) using search terms "bariatric surgery" and "weight loss surgery." Quality was assessed using the scoring systems previously published by DISCERN (United Kingdom (UK)), the Journal of the American Medical Association Benchmark (JAMA; USA), and Expanded Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) (UK)., Results: Website types were more evenly distributed in UAE, though physician websites were also the most common (n = 25, 25%). Within the USA, most websites analyzed were from physicians (n = 32, 32%), followed by academic sources (n = 26, 26%). Academic websites were the highest average quality in the USA (p < .00001). The overall mean DISCERN scores for all websites in the UAE group and US group had no statistically significance differences (p = .950). The overall mean JAMA Benchmark for all websites in the UAE group and USA had no statistically significance differences (p = 0.202). There were no major differences between the USA and UAE in Expanded EQIP scores., Conclusions: The overall quality of information regarding bariatric surgery is poor to fair in both the USA and UAE. Additionally, there are differences in the types of sites retrieved by the most commonly used search engines in each region. The lack of high-quality, evidence-based, information regarding bariatric surgery online is a potential target to improve public education.