IMPACT OF POST -BARIATRIC WEIGHT LOSS ON THE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ATTRIBUTES OF THE RECTUS FEMORIS MUSCLE: LONGITUDINAL ULTRASOUND ANALYSIS

Resumo

In recent decades, there has been a significant global rise in obesity, reaching pandemic levels. The most recent version of the World Obesity Atlas highlighted that, by 2030, approximately 3 billion people will be classified as having a high body mass index, representing almost 1 billion more individuals compared to 2015. In this scenario, bariatric surgery emerges a s the most efficient treatment for severe obesity and related comorbidities, particularly cardiovascular risk, and is capable of sustaining weight loss in the long term. However, the feeling of early satiety due to hormonal changes, altered taste, and reduced stomach volume lead to decreased caloric and protein intake, resulting in substantial muscle mass loss due to proteolysis in an attempt to recruit amino acids as energy substrates