A series of severe neurologic complications after bariatric surgery in France: the NEUROBAR Study

Background: Neurologic complications after bariatric surgery are rare, but can have dramatic consequences. Little data are available on this topic.

Objectives: The aim of the Neurologic complications after BARiatric surgery (NEUROBAR) study was to define, which factors (anthropometric, nutritional, surgical, etc.) were frequently associated with neurologic complications after bariatric surgery.

Settings: Data were collected by the French Centers of Obesity Care Management hosted in University Hospitals.

Methods: An online standardized questionnaire was designed and submitted to the 37 French Centers of Obesity Management. This questionnaire included items about patient characteristics, bariatric surgery, neurologic complications, nutritional status, and management. Patients were retrospectively included from January 2010 to November 2018.

Results: Thirteen centers included 38 patients (34 females and 4 males) with neurologic complications after bariatric surgery. The 2 main bariatric procedures were gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy. More than half of the patients with neurologic complications had a surgical complication after bariatric surgery (53%) and gastrointestinal symptoms, including vomiting (53%). Vitamin B deficiencies were frequent (74%) including at least 47% of cases with deficiency in Vitamin B1.

Conclusion: Early identification of patients with surgical complications and gastrointestinal symptoms after bariatric surgery could help prevent neurologic complications related to nutritional deficiencies.

Keywords: Bariatric surgery; Nutritional status; Thiamine deficiency; Vitamin B deficiency; Wernicke encephalopathy.