Safety assessment of bariatric surgery in the Russian Federation according to the Russian National Bariatric Registry

Background. Bariatric surgery is an effective long-term treatment for obesity and associated metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, dyslipidemia, and sleep apnea. Despite the fact that the safety and effectiveness of bariatric interventions has now been proven, like any other surgical intervention, it’s associated with complications. Objective. To assess the incidence of early complications and 10-day mortality in patients undergoing bariatric surgery in the Russian Federation. Material and methods. Information on the frequency of interventions performed, associated complications and mortality was obtained from the Russian National Bariatric Registry database, containing anonymized data of patients who underwent bariatric intervention in the period from 03/03/2004 to 04/12/2023. The analysis included patients aged 18—70 years who underwent primary surgery. In addition to assessing 10-day mortality rates and the frequency of early postoperative complications, a comparative analysis of the likelihood of developing complications depending on the class of obesity, the patient’s age and the presence of comorbid conditions was carried out. Results. The analysis included 33.627 patients. The 10-day postoperative mortality rate was 0.098%. The rate of early postoperative complications was 1.77% for all types of operations and groups of patients. Bleeding and leakage were the most common: up to 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively, depending on the type of operation. The frequency of their development was statistically significantly influenced by the patient’s age, gender, BMI and the presence of concomitant pathology. Conclusion. Minimal postoperative risks of complications were observed in patients after sleeve gastrectomy. The proportion of bleeding cases in this group did not exceed 0.8%, and the failure of the stapler line did not exceed 0.5%. The 10-day postoperative mortality rate after sleeve gastrectomy was 0.05%. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.