Vitamin B12 supplementation in bariatric patients

Abstract

Bariatric surgery is indicated in cases related to the increase in the number of deaths and various complications, such as diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, one of the post-surgical problems is the lack of vitamin B12, which can cause cardiovascular, neurological and cardiovascular problems, being directly linked to hyperhomocysteinemia, an independent risk factor for cardiovascular problems and damage to the nervous system. Therefore, it is crucial to determine vitamin B12 deficiency in advance to prevent irreversible damage. Therefore, the general objective of the work was to understand the function and dynamics of vitamin B12 metabolization in the body; discuss the consequences of vitamin B12 deficiency and discuss the need for vitamin B12 replacement after bariatric surgery. For this, a literature review was used as a methodology, through data collection in databases such as Scielo, Lilacs and Google Scholar. The main results obtained from the research were: observation of the literature regarding the increase in mean corpuscular volume, neutropenia, hypersegmenting polymorphosis, thrombocytopenia and pancytopenia. Neurological symptoms are characterized by urinary and bowel incontinence, peripheral neuropathy and erectile dysfunction.