Yolsuriyanwong K, Jubprang S, Winiyakul N, Cheewatanakornkul S, Wangkulangkul P, Promchan D. Incidence and predictors of gallstone disease after bariatric surgery in a Thai population. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(3): 116602 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i3.116602]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Kamthorn Yolsuriyanwong, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, 15 Kanjanavanich Rd, Kho Hong, HatYai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand. kamthorn.y@psu.ac.th
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Cohort Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Mar 27, 2026 (publication date) through Mar 30, 2026
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Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery
ISSN
1948-9366
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Yolsuriyanwong K, Jubprang S, Winiyakul N, Cheewatanakornkul S, Wangkulangkul P, Promchan D. Incidence and predictors of gallstone disease after bariatric surgery in a Thai population. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(3): 116602 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i3.116602]
Kamthorn Yolsuriyanwong, Sireetorn Jubprang, Nichakan Winiyakul, Siripong Cheewatanakornkul, Piyanun Wangkulangkul, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, HatYai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand
Darawan Promchan, Department of Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Prince of Songkla University, HatYai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand
Author contributions: Yolsuriyanwong K, Jubprang S, Winiyakul N, Cheewatanakornkul S, and Wangkulangkul P conceived and designed the study. Yolsuriyanwong K, Jubprang S, and Promchan D acquired and analyzed the data acquisition and analysis. Yolsuriyanwong K and Jubprang S contributed to the interpretation of data and critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content. Yolsuriyanwong K, Jubprang S, and Winiyakul N drafted the manuscript. Cheewatanakornkul S and Wangkulangkul P reviewed and revised the manuscript. All the authors approved the final version for publication and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, thus ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the study.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University. (No. 62-270-10-4).
Informed consent statement: The need for informed consent was waived.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Data sharing is not applicable because the datasets contain protected patient information and cannot be released under institutional and ethical regulations.
Corresponding author: Kamthorn Yolsuriyanwong, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, 15 Kanjanavanich Rd, Kho Hong, HatYai 90110, Songkhla, Thailand. kamthorn.y@psu.ac.th
Received: November 18, 2025 Revised: December 6, 2025 Accepted: January 12, 2026 Published online: March 27, 2026 Processing time: 132 Days and 17.8 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Several prior studies have reported a high incidence of gallstone disease post-bariatric surgery. However, its incidence and predictive factors in Asian populations have not been adequately studied.
AIM
To evaluate the incidence and predictive factors of gallstone disease post-bariatric surgery in a Thai population.
METHODS
We retrospectively evaluated patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass at a University Hospital in Thailand between July 2012 and December 2019. All patients underwent annual imaging studies for gallstones both before and after surgery. The predictive factors for postoperative gallstone disease were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analyses.
RESULTS
A total of 243 patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (70.8%) or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (29.2%) were included in the analysis, with a mean age of 36.4 years. The incidence of postoperative gallstone disease was 19.3%, comprising 1.2% symptomatic and 18.1% asymptomatic cases, with a median follow-up of 24.6 (range: 6.1-98.4 months). Preoperative body mass index (BMI) was the only factor significantly associated with postoperative gallstone disease (P = 0.004). Patients with a BMI ≥ 50 kg/m2 were three times more likely to develop postoperative gallstone disease post-bariatric surgery compared to those with a BMI < 50 kg/m2 (P = 0.013).
CONCLUSION
The incidence of gallstone disease after bariatric surgery was relatively high. Preoperative BMI was the only predictive factor in this study. As only a few patients developed symptomatic gallstones post-bariatric surgery, the necessity of routine gallstone screening and prophylactic treatment in this population requires further evaluation.
Core Tip: Incidence of gallstone disease after bariatric surgery was 19.3% in Thai patients. There were 1.2% of bariatric surgery patients developed symptomatic gallstones. Preoperative body mass index was the only significant predictive factor. Patients with a body mass index ≥ 50 kg/m2 had a 3-time higher risk of gallstones post-surgery. To assess the factors associated with post-bariatric surgery gallstone disease, a univariate analysis was performed, comparing demographic and patient characteristics, including the type of bariatric surgery, between those with and without gallstones.
