Background: Folate deficiency bariatric
procedures that can contribute to anemia. The
prevalence of this deficit after both restrictive and
malabsorptive procedures ranges from 9% to 39%
in the literature. Our aim was to interrogate the
Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) for
folate recordings in this surgical cohort.
Method: All patients captured within the CPRD
that had Bariatric surgery episodes were
interrogated to assess folate level measurements
using SPSS 25.
Results: There were a total of 6,601 recorded
folate measurements for 4414 patients in the
bariatric surgery group within the CPRD. There
were 1,710(25.9%) recordings pre-operatively and
4,891(74.1%) postoperatively. 31.9% had
recordings pre and post-operatively. Readings
ranged from 1 to 23 (4.22,SD 4.32) and 1 to 46
(5.87,SD 6.20) post-operatively. Folate was low in
173(10.1%) patients and high in 81 (4.7%) patients
prior, while 408(8.3%) and 475 (9.7%) after
surgery respectively. Bariatric surgery had a
significant effect on the difference of low
(p=0.029) and high (p<0.001) folate levels from
pre to post-operative. Folate recordings averaged
45.90 months.
OBES SURG (2020) 30 (Suppl 1):S1–S78 S55
Conclusion: Folate is well documented in the
Bariatric surgery cohort within the CPRD,
measurements are documented better postoperatively. Folate was abnormal in a minority pre
and post-operatively, however there is a
significant effect of Bariatric surgery on perioperative folate deficiencies.