RYGB patients benefit from specialized bariatric multivitamins

After a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), patients are advised to take lifelong supplementation to reduce the risk of developing deficiencies. Standard multivitamin supplements (sMVS) are proven to be ineffective to restore deficiencies in the long term. To adjust to the needs of RYGB patients, a specialized bariatric multivitamin supplement (WLS Forte) was developed in 2010.

Earlier studies in a smaller group of patients concluded that use of this WLS Forte results in significantly less postoperative deficiencies after 1 and 3 years. The objective in this study was to examine the efficacy of WLS Forte in a bigger population in the long term.

The real-life efficacy of specialized multivitamins

A retrospectively cohort study with prospectively collected data was conducted. Patients themselves were responsible for their choice of the specialized food supplement WLS Forte (883 patients) or sMVS (258 patients), to reflect the real-life situation of postoperative RYGB patients. At 6 months, 1, 2 and 3 years after surgery, serum blood values of the most common deficiencies were determined.

RYGB patients benefit from specialized multivitamins

This study shows that also in a large population in a real-life setting, the use of WLS Forte results in higher levels of vitamin B12, vitamin D, folic acid and iron compared to sMVS. Furthermore, the risk of developing postoperative deficiencies is lower. Therefore, RYGB patient should be advised to take these specialized multivitamins instead of standard multivitamins.

Reference:

Homan, J., Schijns, W., Aarts, E.O., Van Laarhoven, C.J.H.M., Janssen, I.M.C., Berends, F.J. (2015) An optimized multivitamin supplement lowers the number of vitamin and mineral deficiencies three years after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: a cohort study. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, DOI: 10.1016/j.soard.2015.12.010

Link to full text: https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(15)01100-4/fulltext