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Kidney Stone Risk Ups Two-Fold With Common Gastric Bypass Surgery

by Aruna on Jun 20 2009 7:49 AM

Researchers say that popular weight loss surgeries can almost double the risk of developing kidney stones.

Johns Hopkins doctors revealed that Roux-en-Y, most common type of gastric bypass surgery appears to increase the risk of developing kidney stones by two-fold.

While other bariatric procedures have been shown to decrease calcium absorption and increase the risk of kidney stones, doctors have long assumed that the Roux-en-Y procedure did not.

Roux-en-Y surgery might reduce the amount of calcium that patients absorb, contributing to kidney stone formation.

Lead researcher Brian Matlaga recruited 4,639 patients who had undergone Roux-en-Y surgery between 2002 and 2006.

They also identified a second set of 4,639 patients who had similar characteristics, including age, gender, and body mass indices that indicate obesity-but not the surgery.

The results showed that while only 8 percent of the Roux-en-Y patients developed kidney stones, they were nearly twice as likely to get this condition as the patients with similar characteristics who didn't have weight loss surgery.

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"Our study is not an indictment of bariatric surgery-the benefits of this surgery are well known," said Matlaga.

"Rather, we'd like to help physicians understand that their bariatric patients could be at risk for kidney stones, a condition that could be avoidable with proper preventative care," he added.

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The researchers published the findings in Journal of Urology.

Source-ANI
ARU


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