Evaluation of skin changes in patients undergoing obesity surgery: A retrospective observational study

INTRODUCTION: Obesity surgery is performed with increasing frequency in recent days. Some problems develop after these surgeries. Changes in the skin due to weight loss, vitamin, and element deficiencies are among these problems. In this study, we aimed to discuss how the skin changes that occur after the surgery affect the patients and their satisfaction.
METHODS: Survey form were prepared to evaluate the changes in the skin of the patients who underwent bariatric surgery in our hospital and the changes in the skin of the patients were recorded by questioning one year before and one year after the surgery. Their satisfaction with the skin changes before and after the surgery was evaluated
RESULTS: A total of 51 patients, eight men (15.7%) and 43 (84.3%) women, were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 32.8 years. The preoperative mean body weight of the patients was 119.7 kg. The mean follow-up time was 15.4 months. During this follow-up period, the mean postoperative body weight of the patients was 82.8. While the rate of those who were satisfied with the changes in their skin during this period was 78.4 on average, the rate of those who were not satisfied was 21.6 on average.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Most of the patients included in the study stated that they had skin problems related to obesity on their skin. Despite this, patients stated that the changes in their skin after bariatric surgery were better than before the surgery.