Absorption of Drugs Post-Bariatric Surgery (Absorb-Azithromycin)

Summary

Bariatric (obesity) surgery has become the preferred treatment option for patients with severe obesity and is increasing in popularity. It is commonly performed, with nearly 350 000 operations in the world every year. The most common type of bariatric surgery is gastric bypass, in which stomach size is reduced by 95% and the upper intestine is bypassed. Bypass of the upper intestine may lead to medication malabsorption, although this potential adverse effect has received little study. The objective of this study is to determine whether gastric bypass reduces the absorption of a azithromycin, a medication commonly prescribed first-line for infections, especially pneumonia. Patients and non-surgical controls will receive a single dose of azithromycin under highly standardized study conditions. The absorption of azithromycin will be calculated and compared between surgical and non-surgical study groups. The investigators hypothesis is that there will be a significant reduction in the absorption of azithromycin in gastric bypass patients compared to non-surgical controls. This raises the possibility that post-gastric bypass patients treated with azithromycin may fail to respond to treatment, become worse and even die. This study will have important implications for the large number of past and future gastric bypass recipients.

Timeline

Start

2010-06

Primary completion

2011-07

Completion

2011-07

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.