• Luiz Henrique Sala de Melo Costa, Luiz Filipe Sala de Melo Costa, Gabriela Rezende Kachan, João Kleber de Almeida Gentile, Raul Andrade Mendonça Filho, Marcela Ralin de Carvalho Deda Costa, and Jurandir Marcondes Ribas Filho.
• MD. Physician and General Surgeon, Postgraduate Program in Digestive Tract Surgery, Colégio Brasileiro de Cirurgia Digestiva (CBCD), Aracaju (SE), Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2022 Jan 1; 141 (2): 120124120-124.

BackgroundSince the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020, several studies have shown a strong relationship between obesity and severe cases of COVID-19. It is imperative to assess whether bariatric surgery exerts a protective effect in such cases.ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the impact of bariatric surgery on the morbidity and mortality in obese patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. A comprehensive search was performed using the PubMed and Cochrane Library databases.Design And SettingRetrospective cohort studies conducted in the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Cidade de São Paulo, São Paulo (SP), Brazil.MethodsThe search comprised the following descriptors: "bariatric, surgery, COVID-19". Current retrospective cohort studies that examined the influence of bariatric surgery on the morbidity and mortality of obese patients during the COVID-19 pandemic were considered eligible.ResultsAfter removing duplicates, 184 studies were obtained from the databases. Of these, 181 were excluded from the analysis as they did not meet the eligibility criteria. Patients undergoing postoperative follow-up of bariatric surgery had a similar probability of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to the general population, and persistent comorbidities were associated with an increased risk and severity of infection.ConclusionBariatric surgery has a protective effect against severe COVID-19 in the obese population, bringing the prevalence of severe disease cases to levels equivalent to those of the nonobese general population, with a positive impact on morbidity and mortality.

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