SICOB Italian Clinical Practice GRADE-based guidelines for the endobariatric treatment of overweight, obesity, and obesity-associated diseases

Obesity is a chronic disease associated with increased morbidity and mortality and reduced quality of life. Pharmacotherapy can be associated with life style interventions aiming at increasing and maintaining weight loss and ameliorating obesity-related medical conditions. In patients affected by obesity and uncontrolled obesity-associated complications or high degree of BMI (> 40 kg/m2), metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) can be a feasible therapeutic option. Many different types of surgical procedures have been developed in last decades, mainly performed via laparoscopic approaches. However, clinical indications for MBS and the selection of the most appropriate type of procedure have not been clarified so far. The Italian Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery for Obesity (Società Italiana di Chirurgia dell'Obesità e delle Malattie Metaboliche-SICOB) decided to design and develop the updated version of the Italian guidelines aimed at assisting healthcare professionals in the choice of the surgical option for the treatment of obesity and related medical conditions. Between June and October 2022, a panel of 24 experts and an evidence review team (ERT, 10 members), participated in the definition of clinical questions, outcomes, and recommendations and collected and analyzed all the available evidence on the basis of pre-specified search strategies. GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations) methodology and PICO (Patient, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) conceptual framework have been adopted for the development of the present guidelines. The aim of the present guideline is to verify indications to bariatric surgical endoscopy with respect to the presence of comorbid conditions, evaluate the different types of endoscopic bariatric procedure and revise indication to revisional bariatric endoscopy and postoperative procedures.