highly significantp < 0.001
BMI change over 6 months Mean BMI decreased progressively from 38.63 ± 1.53 kg/m 2 pre-operatively to 36.13 ± 2.15 kg/m 2 at 2 months, 34.37 ± 2.44 kg/m 2 at 4 months, and 32.08 ± 3.21 kg/m 2 at 6 months with a highly significant overall time effect ( p < 0.001).