Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases ] (2014) 00–00 Original article Benefits and risks of bariatric surgery in patients aged more than 60 years Patrick Ritz a,d, * , Philippe Topart b , Salomon Benchetrit c , Géraud Tuyeras a,d , Benoit Lepage d , Jean Mouiel e , Guillaume Becouarn b , François Pattou f , Jean-Marc Chevallier g a Centre Intégré Obésité, Endocrinology Metabolism and Nutrition Department, CHU Toulouse, France b Bariatric Surgery Department, Clinique de l’Anjou, Angers, France c Centre Péricaud, Lyon, France d USMR 1027 Inserm Université Paul Sabatier, CHU Toulouse, France e Obesity Center, Clinique St George, Nice, France f General and Endocrine Surgery, CHRU Lille, INSERM UMR 859, Université de Lille-Nord de France, Lille, France g Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris, France Received July 12, 2013; accepted December 10, 2013 Abstract Background: The benefits and risks of bariatric surgery are debated in older patients. The objective of this study was to compare the weight changes and adverse outcomes in patients 460 years and in younger ones. Methods: The French SOFFCO registry was screened for gastric bypass (RYGB), gastric banding (LAGB), or sleeve gastrectomy (SG) performed between 2007 and 2010. Adverse outcomes and weight changes (%) over 12 months were compared between patients o40 years (N ¼ 1379), between 40–59 years (N ¼ 1065), and 460 years (N ¼ 164). Results: After a RYGB surgical (12.3 versus 3.8%; P ¼ .03) and nonsurgical (7.0% versus .8%; P ¼ .01) complications were more prevalent in patients above 60 years than in those below 40. No increased prevalence of surgical and nonsurgical complications was seen after a LAGB or a SG. Weight loss (% of initial weight) was lower after a LAGB than after a RYGB or a SG. After LAGB weight loss (%) did not differ between patients above 60 years and those aged o40 (difference 1.7  1.5%, P ¼ .26). After a RYGB weight loss (%) was lower in patients aged 460 years (À5.6  1.7%, P ¼ .001) than in those aged o40 years. After a SG, weight loss (%) was lower in patients aged 460 years (À7.0  2.6%, P ¼ .01) than in those aged o40 years. Conclusion: Bariatric surgery can be a short-term effective and safe therapeutic option in elderly patients. LAGB or SG appears to be an alternative strategy to RYGB, with lower adverse outcome rate. (Surg Obes Relat Dis 2014;]:00–00.) r 2014 American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. All rights reserved. Keywords: Obesity surgery; Elderly; Gastric bypass; Adjustable gastric banding; Sleeve gastrectomy; Surgical adverse outcomes Despite the high prevalence of obesity and the higher prevalence of related comorbidities observed in older patients than in younger patients [1,2], it is only recently that bariatric surgery is considered and is no longer contraindicated in patients above 60 years. The National Institutes of Health has recognized the possibility of surgery in patients above 60 years in 2006 and the French National Authority for Health did so in 2009 [3]. The rationale for this caution was the early reports of impressive mortality [4,5] and adverse surgery outcomes [6]. These studies reported records from national surveys and registries, dating from 1996–2002, mainly from patients having had a gastric bypass ([5,6]; RYGB). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2013.12.012 1550-7289 r 2014 American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. All rights reserved. * Correspondence: Patrick Ritz, Unités de nutrition, CHU de Toulouse, 26 Chemin de Pouvourville, 31059 Toulouse, France. E-mail: patrick.ritz@wanadoo.fr