Background

Metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is the most effective and durable treatment of obesity and can induce resolution of hyperlipidemia. We aimed to compare trajectories of statin use between individuals who had MBS and similar individuals who did not have MBS.

Methods

Adults with a BMI of at least 35 kg/m2; were identified in Merative™ (US employer-based retrospective claims database). Individuals who had MBS between 2016 and 2021 were matched 1:1 with those who did not with baseline demographic and health characteristics. Trajectories of statin use were stratified by statin use in the year before the index procedure date and examined in the two years after the index procedure date.

Results

18,042 adult MBS patients were compared to 18,042 matched patients without MBS. In both cohorts, 19.4% filled a prescription for statins in the year before the index procedure date. Two years after index procedure date, statin use remained similar at 18.3% in the non-MBS cohort but decreased to 9.2% in the MBS cohort (Figure 1). Among individuals using statins at baseline, discontinuation at 2-years was more common in the MBS cohort (60.7% vs. 35.4%, p<0.01). Among individuals without statin use at baseline, statin use initiation was more common in the non-MBS cohort (9.1% vs. 2.6%, p<0.01) at -2years.

Conclusions

MBS significantly increases statin discontinuation, and reduces statin initiation, demonstrating that MBS is both a treatment and preventative measure for dyslipidemia.