Muscle Assessment in Women Who Have Undergone Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery

Obesity is a public health problem globally. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated are 600 million obese worldwide and according to National Health Survey 2010 in Chile 67% of the population suffers from some degree of overweight having approximately 300,000 morbidly obese.

The first-line treatment for obesity is diet, exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy, however, these interventions are not effective enough to control long-term obesity, and so bariatric surgery is currently the treatment of choice to control morbid obesity.

Overall, after bariatric surgery, most patients lose on average 60% of excess weight and improve their comorbidities during the first postoperative year, however, the long term effects of this weight reduction are not known in detail regarding body composition and muscle function.

The aim of this study is to assess muscle function measured by hand grip strength test in women at least 2 years after bariatric surgery (Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass) and to compare with control group.

Inclusion criteria

Case group: women, 18-70 y, submitted to a Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery at least two years ago

Exclusion criteria

• osteoarthritis of hands and knees, any osteoarticular, rheumatologic or neurological disease hindering the performance of the tests of muscle function; type 2 diabetes mellitus; acute infectious diseases; use of muscle relaxants; physical and intellectual disabilities and uncontrolled hypothyroidism.