Abstract

Background: Weight loss is associated with reductions in comorbidities. Weight loss surgery improved weight loss outcomes more than non-surgical interventions but it is associated with adverse effects. Two objectives for this study were: first to compare death rates between two different purposes of these surgeries (therapeutic vs. aesthetic); and second to determine autopsy causes of deaths among them. Methods: Authors studied all deaths due to surgical weight loss methods (gastric bypass; sleeve gastrectomy; abdominal liposuction; gastric balloon) referred to the forensic medicine dissection hall in Tehran city from 2008 to 2017 within a retrospective cross-sectional study. We divided them into two different groups according to purpose of surgery (Group A (therapeutic) vs. Group B (aesthetic). Results: Authors studied 44 cases, including 12 men and 32 women. Most victims in both groups were in the age range of 31-40 years. Gastric bypass was the most frequent surgical method in Group A, on the other hand, in Group B, it was abdominal liposuction. The most common cause of death was peritonitis in Group A; in Group B, it was pulmonary thromboembolism. The total number of deaths increased during study. Conclusions: The findings showed that deaths in females were more common in both groups; this may be because women are more likely to undergo these kinds of surgeries; but it may be because female's immunity system specificities' like Interleukins and the same as females immunity system role in their mortality dominancy in burns. Further investigation needs to determine causes of females' mortality dominances' in weight loss surgeries.