Is Weight Loss Surgery Safe for People with Heart Failure?
A study published in 2026 looked at whether weight loss and bariatric surgery is safe and effective for people who also have heart failure. It found that, in carefully selected people, these procedures did not appear to raise the risk of safety events in the first 30 days, and that meaningful improvements in body weight and medicines occurred within a year.
Who Was Studied and How the Research Was Done
Researchers reviewed records from two medical centres, covering 1,678 weight loss procedures carried out between 2021 and 2023. Of those, 41 were performed in adults living with heart failure, a condition where the heart does not pump blood as well as it should. The study looked back at existing records rather than following patients forward, which is an important limit to keep in mind.
What the Researchers Found at 30 Days and at One Year
People with heart failure did not appear to face a significantly higher risk of safety events in the first 30 days compared to those without it. By one year, those with heart failure had lost around 19 percent of their body weight on average, roughly one fifth of their starting weight. They also saw meaningful reductions in their heart medicines, fluid medicines and blood sugar medicines.
What This Study Does and Does Not Tell Us
The findings are encouraging, but the group of heart failure patients was small, just 41 people, so the results may not apply to everyone. The study was also conducted at two centres in one country and was not a randomised trial, meaning patients were not assigned to groups by chance. Larger, prospective studies are still needed to give a fuller picture.
About this research: Safety and Effectiveness of Metabolic and Bariatric Procedures in Heart Failure: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study, published in Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 2026. Read the study summary
More about the procedures covered in this research is on our bariatric surgery page. If you are considering your options, call us on (03) 9760 2777 or request an appointment through our website.