The rise of one anastomosis gastric bypass: insights from surgeons and dietitians

One anastomosis gastric bypass/Mini Gastric Bypass (OAGB/MGB) is an emerging bariatric surgery (BS) technique. We evaluated and compared attitudes of bariatric surgeons and dietitians towards the considerations for choosing BS-type (“Decision-making”), the contributing factors to the rise of OAGB/MGB in Israel (“OAGB/MGB-rise”) and notions regarding the occurrence of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and nutritional deficiencies following OAGB/MGB. Anonymous online surveys were distributed. The participants were asked to rate by a 10-point Likert scale (0 = not at all; 100 = very much/often) their attitudes towards “Decision-making”, “OAGB/MGB-rise” and occurrence of GI symptoms and nutritional deficiencies following OAGB/MGB. For “Decision-making” and “OAGB/MGB-rise”, items were considered prioritized where ≥ 50% of the group considered them as ‘very-important’ (rating ≥ 80). Data on age, sex, years-in-practice and main workplace were also collected. A total of 106 professionals participated in the survey (42 surgeons; 64 dietitians). The respective mean age, years-in-practice and sex were 52.3 ± 8.7 vs. 42.3 ± 9.0 years, 21.0 ± 10.8 vs. 15.5 ± 9.2 years and 85.7% vs. 3.1% males. The inter-observer agreement for prioritized items related to “Decision-making” was fair (Kappa = 0.250; P = 0.257) and both groups prioritized patient’s BMI, comorbidities and compliance. The inter-observer agreement for prioritized items related to “OAGB/MGB-rise” was moderate (Kappa = 0.550; P = 0.099) and both groups prioritized ease of performance, shorter operation duration and failure of former restrictive BS. Surgeons reported lower occurrence of nutritional deficiencies and GI symptoms as adverse effects of OAGB/MGB (P ≤ 0.033). The study highlights the views of bariatric surgeons and dietitians concerning factors that underpin the rise of OABG/MGB in Israel and possible rates of GI symptoms and nutritional deficiencies associated with this modality.