Body Composition Changes and Predictor of Weight Loss in Short Term after Sleeve Gastrectomy

Background Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for patients with severe obesity to achieve sustainable weight loss. However, body composition changes, especially limb composition, after sleeve gastrectomy (SG) in Asian population have not been widely reported, and there are few studies on the prediction of short-term weight loss. Methods We evaluated 159 patients with obesity who underwent SG between May 2020 and June 2023 in our hospital. Each patient’s demographic, anthropometric, laboratory workup and body composition data were collected at baseline and 1,3,6,12 months after surgery. Independent predictor of weight loss was obtained by Logistic regression analysis. Results The mean age of the 159 patients was 30.4 ± 7.7 years, and 78.0% were female. Compared to the baseline values, anthropometric parameters and metabolic profiles were improved after surgery. All of body composition indexes decreased, while fat mass (FM, kg and percentage), visceral fat mass (VFA) and obesity degree remained decreasing until 1 year postoperatively. Percentage of excess weight loss (EWL%) was 55.7 ± 17.6% at 3 months, reaching the standard of effective weight loss. There were 11 factors that correlated negatively with EWL%, and obesity degree was identified as independent predictor of weight loss (OR: 0.951, P  = 0.001). The AUC of obesity degree was 0.781 (95% CI: 0.668–0.894, P  < 0.001), values of sensitivity and specificity were 0.643 and 0.857, with the cutoff value 193.5%. Conclusions SG significantly improved variables of anthropometry, lipid metabolism and achieved effective weight loss in the short term. From the whole body to limbs and trunk, the body composition was changed. Obesity degree was closely related to effective weight loss after surgery, and might be an independent predictor in the short term.