LAUSR

INTRODUCTION Obesity and associated diseases represent an important health and economic problem since pharmacological treatment for many of these pathologies needs lifelong subsidies. Theoretically, bariatric and metabolic surgery decreases the medication requirements of patients for these diseases but may result in other types of pharmacological needs. This study aims to demonstrate whether there is a real decrease in pharmacological expenditure after bariatric surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of patients who were treated in our centre between 2012 and 2016, comparing different associated comorbidities and pharmacological expenses one month before and 2 years after surgery. RESULTS 400 patients were operated. The results were presented, showing the differences between the resolution of the different comorbidities and the pharmacological savings generated for each of the surgical techniques studied. The most cost-effective comorbidity in the study was type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). The surgical technique with the best results was metabolic bypass, presenting a cost difference after surgery of 507 euros per month (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS In a 2-year follow-up after bariatric surgery, a decreased prevalence of obesity-related diseases and associated pharmacological expenditure was observed, showing the efficiency of this intervention over the medium term.