The relationship of distance from the surgical centre on attendance and XXXX after laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery in the United Kingdom.

@entity1 @entity353
Obesity remains a significant worldwide health problem and is currently increasing. Surgery remains the only proven long-term intervention and has been shown to be cost-effective. Evidence suggests that regular follow-up following laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding is related to improved outcome, such evidence is lacking for laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery (laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass [LRYGB]). This study examines the effect of distance on attendance at post-operative clinics and subsequent @entity353 following surgery. A prospectively maintained database was interrogated to analyze @entity1 undergoing LRYGB before August 2010. @entity1 demographics, percentage excess @entity353 (%EWL), compliance with out- @entity1 clinic attendances and the distance the @entity1 lived from the hospital were examined. Perfect clinic attendees were compared with non-attendees and the distances @entity1 lived from the hospital evaluated. There was a significantly greater %EWL at 1 year post-op observed in the perfect attendees group (65.5 vs. 59.5, P   =   0.01). Increased %EWL was also evident at 2 years post-op but did not reach statistical significance (66.9 vs. 59.5, P   =   0.06). There was a negative correlation observed between post-operative @entity353 and distance from the bariatric centre (R   =   -0.21, P   =   0.04). Close follow-up following LRYGB is essential to optimize outcomes. Increased frequency of out- @entity1 clinic visits was associated with improved post-operative @entity353 . Increasing distance between the @entity1 's home and the bariatric centre was associated with worse post-operative @entity353 .
