Prevalence of Dumping Syndrome and Its Determinants Among Post-Bariatric Surgery Adult Patients at King Fahad General Hospital, Jeddah, 2019–2020

Abstract

BackgroundBariatric surgery is one of the most effective interventions for morbid obesity. Despite its benefits, unwanted consequences such as dumping syndrome (DS) have been reported following the procedure. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of DS and identify the factors associated with it in Saudi Arabia. MethodologyThis cross-sectional study collected data from patients who underwent bariatric surgery at King Fahad General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 2019-2020. A validated questionnaire was used to collect the data. The questionnaire included demographic items such as age and sex and items relating to DS such as nausea, vomiting, and palpitations. A modified version of the Sigstad diagnostic scoring system was used to confirm the diagnosis. ResultsOf the 240 investigated cases, two-thirds (67.5%) were females. The most reported symptoms were nausea (37.9%), vomiting (36.7%), desire to lie down (25.5%), restlessness (25.5%), and abdominal fullness (23.7%). Based on the modified Sigstad diagnostic scoring system, 75 (31.4%) patients met the criteria for DS. The bivariate analysis showed the prevalence was significantly higher in females (36.4%), those with university qualifications (40.3%), and those with high monthly income (62.5%) (p<0.05). Also, dietary behaviors in terms of frequency, size of meals, and drinking liquids with meals were significantly associated with the prevalence of DS, where the lowest prevalence was recorded among those who ate more than one small meal (10.9%), while the highest prevalence was found in those who ate more than one large meal (81.8%); also, the prevalence was significantly higher in patients who drank liquids with meals (40.8%) than those who drank liquids between meals (26.8%) (p<0.05). ConclusionIn this single institutional study, we report a 31.4% prevalence of DS among our cohort. The predictors of the syndrome include gender, education level, monthly income, eating more than one large meal per day, and drinking liquids with meals. In the future, these predictors will be explained to patients before and after bariatric surgery to reduce the prevalence of such inconvenient syndromes.

Postoperative Dumping Syndrome, Health-Related Quality of Life, Anxiety, Depression, and Eating Disturbances: Results of a Longitudinal Obesity Surgery Study

“…While female gender, bypass surgery, and anxiety/depression were associated with dumping syndrome, this was not the case for physical HRQoL. The connection between dumping syndrome and female gender [17, 19, 23] is difficult to explain and needs further investigation. The high proportion of women in the present sample (76%) may have contributed to the result, indicating a selection bias.…”

“…Prevalence rates for dumping syndrome after obesity surgery vary between 20 and 40% [12][13][14][17][18][19]. With few exceptions [20], bypass surgery is associated with a higher risk for postoperative dumping than other types of surgery such as, e.g., sleeve gastrectomy or gastric banding [12,15,[21][22][23][24].…”

“…With few exceptions [20], bypass surgery is associated with a higher risk for postoperative dumping than other types of surgery such as, e.g., sleeve gastrectomy or gastric banding [12,15,[21][22][23][24]. Past studies further indicate that women are more likely to suffer from postoperative dumping than men [17,19,23].…”

Surgical Interventions for the Management of Obesity-Related Joint Pain: A Narrative Review

“…A prevalence study in Saudi Arabia investigated 240 cases who underwent bariatric surgery and found that 31.4% of the patients met the criteria for dumping syndrome. The study identified gender, educational level, and eating habits as predictors of the syndrome [ 101 ].…”

Dumping Syndrome: Pragmatic Treatment Options and Experimental Approaches for Improving Clinical Outcomes

“…When RYGB and sleeve gastrectomy are combined, 31% of patients report experiencing dumping symptoms. 23 For sleeve gastrectomy, the highest reported estimate of early dumping symptoms is 41%, 25 whereas it is 26% after RYGB. 18 The presence of late dumping symptoms was reported less frequently: in 11% of patients after RYGB and in 6.7% of patients after sleeve gastrectomy.…”