This study aims to conduct a systematic review on bariatric surgery (BS) for patients in the setting of liver transplantation (LT). A literature review was conducted on the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases. Studies in the English language on adults reporting on BS prior to, during, or after LT were included. Eleven studies with 56 patients were retrieved. Two studies reported on BS before, two during, and seven after LT. Sleeve gastrectomy was the most common procedure, followed by Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, biliopancreatic diversion, and gastric banding. The overall mortality rate was nil in the early postoperative period and 5.3 % in the first postoperative year. The reoperation rate was 12.2 %. Obesity surgery seems feasible in this population, but mortality and morbidity are higher.

Bariatric surgery has been a field of intense research in the last 20 years. We observed a growing interest of non-surgical journals and an increasing participation of new countries. Nevertheless, latest trends suggest a saturation of scientific production in this field.