Abstract
Bariatric surgery is effective for obesity management but associated with kidney stone formation. Give the different post-operative physiology between restrictive type and malabsorptive type bariatric surgery, this study aims to compare difference in post-operative lithogenic risk profiles between these surgical types by assessing the postoperative 24-hour urine chemistry profiles. We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study of consecutive adults undergoing bariatric surgery at a tertiary center in Hong Kong between April 2017 and October 2019. A total number of 35 patients underwent malabsorptive and 55 underwent restrictive procedures. Baseline demographics, comorbidities, and postoperative 24-hour urine chemistry were assessed within 12 months after surgery. Abnormal urinary parameters were identified, with between-group comparisons performed using Mann–Whitney U and Chi-squared tests. Propensity scores were estimated using selected covariates, and stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was applied. IPTW-weighted logistic regression was used to compare the odds of abnormal urinary parameters between surgical groups. At 12 months, the malabsorptive group demonstrated significantly higher urinary oxalate and lower urinary creatinine, potassium, calcium, magnesium, citrate, urate, pH, and calcium phosphate activity compared with the restrictive group. The prevalence of hyperoxaluria (51.4% vs. 25.5%, p = 0.012), hypocitraturia (71.4% vs. 36.4%, p = 0.001), and acidic urine (54.3% vs. 20.0%, p = 0.001) was higher in the malabsorptive group. Conversely, hyperuricosuria was more common in restrictive patients (29.1% vs. 11.4%, p = 0.049). No significant differences were observed for urine volume, sodium, phosphate, or calcium oxalate activity. IPTW-weighted logistic regression demonstrated that malabsorptive procedures were associated with significantly higher odds of hyperoxaluria (OR 2.95, 95% CI 1.03–8.44), hypocitraturia (OR 4.13, 95% CI 1.40–12.21), hypomagnesuria (OR 3.26, 95% CI 1.11–9.57), and acidic urine pH (OR 3.76, 95% CI 1.33–10.64). Malabsorptive bariatric surgery is associated with more lithogenic urinary profiles than restrictive surgery, particularly hyperoxaluria, hypocitraturia, hypomagnesuria, and acidic urine, underscoring increased risk of postoperative nephrolithiasis. Close monitoring of urinary parameters and multidisciplinary management are recommended to mitigate stone risk.
Data availability
The datasets are not publicly available due to patient privacy, but de-identified data can be available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request and with the permission of the institutional ethics committee.
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AQ Liu: protocol development, data collection, data analysis, manuscript writingEKH Choy: data analysis, manuscript writingBWH Siu: manuscript writingCMS Lai: data collection, manuscript writingSKK Yuen: manuscript writingICH Ko: manuscript writingPKF Chiu: supervision, manuscript editingJYC Teoh: supervision, manuscript editingCCH Lam: data collectionSYW Liu: project development, supervision, data collection, manuscript editingCF Ng: project development, supervision, manuscript editing.
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Liu, A.Q., Choy, E.KH., Siu, B.W.H. et al. 24-hour urine chemistry shows higher stone formation risk after malabsorptive than restrictive type bariatric surgery. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37440-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37440-y
