Improvements in Health-Related Quality of Life and Pain: A Cohort Study in Obese Patients After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Objective: The principal aim of the study was to investigate the effect of the sleeve gastrectomy (SG) in the quality of life (QoL) and pain in a population of morbidly obese patients. Methods: Seventy-two SG patients were assessed in this descriptive observational study, before the surgery and 6 months after that. We evaluated health-related QoL (Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index [GIQLI]) and pain (spontaneous low back pain by Numerical Point Rate Scale [NPRS] and pressure pain thresholds [PPTs]). Results: The results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant improvements in nearly all of the subscales of GIQLI questionnaire after 6 months: gastrointestinal symptoms (P = .01), physical well-being (P < .001), social well-being (P = .03), and total GIQLI score (P < .001), but not for the emotional condition (P = .20). Patients also had improvements in spontaneous low back pain (P = .002), but not in the PPTs in all the body areas explored, including the cervical area, low back, and hands (P > .05). Conclusion: Patients receiving SG improved their health-related QoL and low back pain 6 months after the intervention, but this improvement was not so important for pressure pain thresholds in different body areas.