Multicentre cohort study of antihypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy cessation after bariatric surgery

Background: Few studies have assessed changes in antihypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy after bariatric surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the 6-year rates of continuation, discontinuation or initiation of antihypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy after bariatric surgery compared with those in a matched control group of obese patients. Methods: This nationwide observational population-based cohort study used data extracted from the French national health insurance database. All patients undergoing gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy in France in 2009 were matched with control patients. Mixed-effect logistic regression models were used to analyse factors that influenced discontinuation or initiation of treatment over a 6-year interval. Results: In 2009, 8199 patients underwent primary gastric bypass (55.2 per cent) or sleeve gastrectomy (44.8 per cent). After 6 years, the proportion of patients receiving antihypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy had decreased more in the bariatric group than in the control group (antihypertensives: -40.7 versus -11.7 per cent respectively; lipid-lowering therapy: -53.6 versus -20.2 per cent; both P < 0.001). Gastric bypass was the main predictive factor for discontinuation of therapy for hypertension (odds ratio (OR) 9.07, 95 per cent c. i. 7.72 to 10.65) and hyperlipidaemia (OR 11.91, 9.65 to 14.71). The proportion of patients not receiving treatment at baseline who were subsequently started on medication was lower after bariatric surgery than in controls for hypertension (5.6 versus 15.8 per cent respectively; P < 0.001) and hyperlipidaemia (2.2 versus 9.1 per cent; P < 0.001). Gastric bypass was the main protective factor for antihypertensives (OR 0.22, 0.18 to 0.26) and lipid-lowering medication (OR 0.12, 0.09 to 0.15). Conclusion: Bariatric surgery is associated with a good discontinuation of antihypertensive and lipid-lowering therapy, with gastric bypass being more effective than sleeve gastrectomy.