Effect of Body Contouring after Massive Weight Loss Due to Bariatric Surgery on Quality of Life and Body Image: A Systematic Review

Abstract Background: Massive weight loss occurs in post-bariatric surgery patients, and the extra skin that results can create both practical issues and extreme unhappiness with appearance. All these corollaries, including body image, could be improved with the removal of extra skin. There are currently few studies examining this population's body image and quality of life in relation to weight. Aim of Study: Determination of whether body contouring surgeries following massive weight loss in post bariatric surgery patients improves quality of life and body image or not by conducting a systematic review literature. Patients and Methods: This study was conducted in the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University from October 2021 to July 2022. Preliminary searches were conducted to identify relevant sources and optimize the search strategy. subsequently, the investigators conducted a systemic search of the following on line databases: (1) PubMed (PM) (which is a free search engine operated by the National Library of Medicine, United States), (2) Web of Science (WOS) (a subscription-based interdisciplinary data base published by Clarivate Analytics) and (3) Scopus (Elsevier's abstract and citation database). The search items revolved around two main concepts: The exposure of interest (body contouring surgeries following bariatric surgeries), the outcome (quality of life, body image). Results: A total of 17 studies were included assessing response rate showing significant heterogeneity between studies with I2 (inconsistency) 94.97% and 95% CI for I2 93.22-96.26. 7 studies were included assessing Life change weight loss (wl) showing significant heterogeneity between studies with I2 (inconsistency) 93.56% and 95% CI for I2 89.17-96.17. 18 studies were included assessing satisfaction showing significant heterogeneity between studies with I2 (inconsistency) 98.25% and 95% CI for I2 97.85-98.58. 5 studies were included assessing complications showing sig-nificant heterogeneity between studies with I2 (inconsistency) 82.15% and 95% CI for I2 5 8.89-92.25. 4 studies were included assessing Weight changes showing insignificant heterogeneity between studies with I2 (inconsistency) 0% and 95% CI 1.611 to 2.086. Conclusion: The evidence in this review strongly supports the potential long-term advantages of body contouring surgery for certain patients who have undergone bariatric surgery and lost a significant amount of weight. The current review also showed that BCS in postbariatric patients leads to statistically significant improvements in a number of QOL indicators.