Bariatric Surgery Raises Risk for UTIs, Intra-Abdominal Infections

Bariatric surgery is associated with an increased risk of urinary tract infection (UTI) and intra-abdominal infection, and a decreased risk of skin and soft-tissue infection (SSTI) and respiratory infection, according to a recent study.

Previous studies have suggested that individuals with obesity have an increased risk for infectious diseases. However, it is not yet known whether bariatric surgery affects the risk for infectious diseases among adults with obesity.
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For their study, the researchers evaluated 56,277 adults with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery for the purpose of weight reduction from 2005 to 2011. Patient data were obtained from the State Emergency Department Database and State Inpatient Databases of California, Florida, and Nebraska.

The researchers defined the primary outcomes as emergency department (ED) visits or hospitalizations for SSTI, respiratory infection, intra-abdominal infection, or UTI.

Results showed that the risk for ED visit or hospitalization for SSTI or respiratory infection in the 0 to 12 months following surgery had decreased significantly, compared with that of 13 to 24 months pre-surgery. Furthermore, this risk remained significantly low 13 to 24 months after surgery. However, the risk for ED visit or hospitalization for UTI or intra-abdominal infection in the 0 to 12 months following surgery had increased significantly and had remained high 13 to 24 months post-surgery.

“We found a divergent risk pattern in the risk of 4 common infectious diseases after bariatric surgery,” the researchers concluded. “The risk of SSTI and respiratory infection decreased after bariatric surgery whereas that of intra-abdominal infection and UTI increased.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Goto T, Hirayama A, Faridi MK, Camargo Jr CA, Hasegawa K. Association of bariatric surgery with risk of infectious diseases: a self-controlled case series analysis. Clin Infect Dis. 2017;65(8):1349-1355. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/cix541.