Importance: There is conflicting evidence about how different bariatric procedures impact health care use.
Objective: To compare the impact of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (AGB) and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) on health care use and costs.
Design, setting, and participants: Retrospective interrupted time series with comparison series study using a national claims data set. The data analysis was initiated in September 2011 and completed in January 2015. We identified bariatric surgery patients aged 18 to 64 years who underwent a first AGB or RYGB between 2005 and 2011. We propensity score matched 4935 AGB to 4935 RYGB patients according to baseline age group, sex, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic variables, comorbidities, year of procedure and baseline costs, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospital days. Median postoperative follow-up time was 2.5 years.
Main outcomes and measures: Quarterly and yearly total health care costs, ED visits, hospital days, and prescription drug costs. We used segmented regression to compare pre-to-post changes in level and trend of these measures in the AGB vs the RYGB groups and difference-in-differences analysis to estimate the magnitude of difference by year.
Results: Both AGB and RYGB were associated with downward trends in costs; however, by year 3, AGB patients had total annual costs that were 16% higher than RYGB patients (P < .001; absolute change: $818; 95% CI, $278 to $1357). In postoperative years 1 and 2, AGB was associated with 27% to 29% fewer ED visits than RYGB (P < .001; absolute changes: -0.6; 95% CI, -0.9 to -0.4 and -0.4; 95% CI, -0.6 to -0.1 visits/person, respectively); however, by year 3, there were no detectable differences. Postoperative annual hospital days were not significantly different between the groups. Although both procedures lowered prescription costs, annual postoperative prescription costs were 17% to 32% higher for AGB patients than RYGB patients (P < .001).
Conclusions and relevance: Both laparoscopic AGB and RYGB were associated with flattened total health care cost trajectories but RYGB patients experienced lower total and prescription costs by 3 years postsurgery. On the other hand, RYGB was associated with increased ED visits in the 2 years after surgery. Clinicians and policymakers should weigh such differences in use and costs when making recommendations or shaping regulatory guidance about these procedures.