Prediction of type 2 diabetes remission after metabolic surgery: a comparison of the individualized metabolic surgery score and the ABCD score

Background: Metabolic surgery has become increasingly accepted for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, there is limited evidence regarding the optimal candidate and surgical procedure. Although a new individualized metabolic surgery (IMS) score was recently proposed for procedure selection, it has yet to be validated. Objective: To validate the IMS score with regard to remission of T2D after metabolic surgery and compare it with the age, body mass index, C-peptide level, and duration of T2D (ABCD) score. Setting: Hospital-based bariatric center. Methods: A total of 310 T2D patients who underwent gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy at an academic center in Taiwan and had a minimum 5-year follow-up (2004-2012) were examined for the predictive power of complete remission using the IMS and the ABCD scoring systems. Results: At the 5-year follow-up, weight loss was 27.5%, with mean body mass index decreasing from 37.8 to 27.9 kg/m², mean glycated hemoglobin decreased from 8.6% to 6.1%, and prolonged remission of T2D achieved in 224 (72.3%) T2D patients. Remission rates were higher in patients who underwent gastric bypass than in those who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (73.6% versus 66.1%; P = .04), regardless of T2D severity, and were 96%, 68%, and 16% in patients with IMS mild, moderate, and severe scores, respectively. Although both scores predicted the success of surgery, the ABCD was better in patients with IMS moderate scores. Conclusion: Metabolic surgery is an option for T2D patients with obesity. The ABCD score may be better at predicting T2D remission after metabolic surgery compared with the IMS score.