PD556 - MORE THAN WEIGHT LOSS: EARLY CHANGES IN MUSCLE STRENGTH, BODY COMPOSITION, AND METABOLIC PROFILE AFTER SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY - A PILOT STUDY

PD556

MORE THAN WEIGHT LOSS: EARLY CHANGES IN MUSCLE STRENGTH, BODY COMPOSITION, AND METABOLIC PROFILE AFTER SLEEVE GASTRECTOMY - A PILOT STUDY

A. Budny^1,*, K. Frąckiewicz², E. Wernio³, M. Hoffmann¹

¹Division of Hypertension & Diabetology, ²Department of Physiopathology, ³Division of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland

Rationale: Bariatric surgery (BS) may cause early skeletal muscle loss and increase the risk of sarcopenia. However, changes in muscle content and strength remain poorly studied. This study aimed to assess early changes in handgrip strength (HGS), body composition, and metabolic profile following sleeve gastrectomy, and to explore their interrelationships.

Methods: Twenty-one patients (13 women) undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy were included. HGS, biochemical parameters, and body composition were measured before and one month after surgery.

Results: At baseline, 9.5% of patients had low HGS, whereas one month postoperatively, all patients had values within the normal range. No patients had low muscle mass at either time point according to sex-specific thresholds. HGS increased significantly one month after surgery (32.8 ± 9.1 vs. 37.5 ± 10.4 kg; p = 0.005). Preoperative muscle mass was moderately correlated with improvement in HGS one month after BS (r = 0.54, p = 0.017). In the ANCOVA model, total protein (TP) at one month postoperatively remained a significant predictor of muscle mass after adjustment for sex and creatinine (p = 0.023). Significant metabolic and inflammatory changes were observed one month after surgery, including reductions in TP (p = 0.013), HDL cholesterol (p = 0.001), LDL cholesterol (p = 0.006), insulin (p = 0.005), and C-reactive protein (p = 0.011).

Conclusion: Despite reductions in muscle mass and TP levels, HGS improved in the early stage after surgery, suggesting that functional recovery can precede changes in muscle quantity after BS. HGS may therefore be a valuable tool for perioperative functional assessment. These findings highlight the clinical value of HGS as a simple and reliable tool for functional assessment in BS. The role of perioperative nutritional support and prehabilitation strategies warrants further investigation. 

Disclosure of Interest: None declared