People with obesity who undergo bariatric surgery may have better long-term kidney function than their peers who do not have weight-loss surgery, a study suggests.

Researchers examined data on 144 adults with a BMI of 35 or higher who underwent bariatric surgery and were matched 1:1 to with a non-surgery cohort based on sex, self-reported race, preoperative BMI, age, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using creatinine.

In the surgery group, mean eGFR declined 0.41mL/min/1.73m² over a mean follow-up of 9.2 years. In contrast, in the non-surgical cohort, mean eGFR fell by 1.44mL/min/1.73m² over a mean follow-up of 8.2 years, according to the report in JAMA Network Open.

“Having impaired kidney function should not prevent a patient from having bariatric surgery, especially since they may have particularly positive benefits in terms of kidney function,” said lead study author Dr Alex Chang, a nephrologist and codirector of the Kidney Health Research Institute at Geisinger in Danville, Pennsylvania, US.