Long-term follow-up in metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) remains challenging. This commentary addresses the critical need to urgently attend to several issues pertaining to long-term follow-up to strengthen the bariatric evidence base.
Follow‑up in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
Despite the merits of long-term follow-up in metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS), compliance with follow-up remains taxing. The result is a suboptimal volume of long-term studies with adequate patient follow-up. When loss to follow-up (LTFU) is substantial, it might bias the estimation of the benefits of MBS. Addressing LTFU requires attention to several interlocking conundrums: definitions of LTFU and of compliance (adherence), benefits of LTFU, acceptable levels of LTFU, and how LTFU is computed and reported.