Photo Credit: Ekahardiwito Subagio Purwito

For patients with diabetes undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG), overall expenditures decrease in the postsurgical period, with no differences seen following the first 6 months after surgery, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Matthew L. Maciejewski, PhD, and colleagues compared health expenditures 3 years before and 5.5 years after bariatric surgery among patients with diabetes undergoing RYGB (n=3,147) or SG (n=3,510) from 2012 to 2019. The researchers found that per 6-month period, there was about a 30% decrease in expenditures for both groups, from $4,039.06 to $2,441.13 before and after RYGB and from $3,918.37 to $2,658.15 before and after SG. Through 5.5 years, there was no significant difference between the groups in total expenditures after surgery, except for the first 6 months, when expenditures were transiently higher in the RYGB group (difference, $564.32). Higher rates of inpatient admission drove this. Postsurgical outpatient and medication expenditures did not differ between the groups.