Sleep study, respiratory mechanics, chemosensitive response and quality of life in morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial

The present study involves patients with morbid obesity (BMI of 40 kg/m2 or 35 kg/m2 to 39.9 kg/m2 with comorbidities), candidates for bariatric surgery, screened at the Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital in the city of Sao Paulo (Brazil). The inclusion criteria are grade III morbid obesity, an indication for bariatric surgery, agreement to participate in the study and a signed term of informed consent. The exclusion criteria are BMI above 55 kg/m2, clinically significant or unstable mental health concerns, an unrealistic postoperative target weight and/or unrealistic expectations of surgical treatment. Bariatric surgery candidates who meet the inclusion criteria will be referred to Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital and will be reviewed again 30, 90 and 360 days following surgery. Data collection will involve patient records, personal data collection, objective assessment of HR, BP, neck circumference, chest and abdomen, collection and analysis of clinical preoperative findings, polysomnography, pulmonary function test and a questionnaire on sleepiness.This paper describes a randomised controlled trial of morbidly obese patients. Polysomnography, respiratory mechanics, chemosensitive response and quality of life will be assessed in patients undergoing or not undergoing bariatric surgery.The protocol for this study is registered with the Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials - ReBEC (RBR-9k9hhv).Obesity is currently one of the most serious public health problems. The prevalence of this condition has grown in an accentuated fashion in recent decades, even in developing countries, leading to a global epidemic. Over 1.6 billion adults worldwide are overweight, among which 400 million are obese. The World Health Organisation predicts that 10% of the global population will be obese by 2015 [1]. As poverty has been undergoing a process of eradication, obesity has become a more frequent and more serious problem than malnutrition [2,3]. In adults, overweight is characteri