To explore the clinical significance of pituitary MRI in evaluating pituitary function and guiding surgical treatment in patients undergoing bariatric surgery, and the scope of application of pituitary MRI in patients undergoing bariatric surgery by analyzing the levels of pituitary-related hormones.

We evaluated 138 patients with planned bariatric surgery who were admitted to the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital between January 2020 and September 2021. According to whether abnormal signal and structure were found in pituitary MRI examination, they were divided into positive group and negative group. There were 93 in positive group and 45 in negative group. Pituitary-related hormones (including pituitary production and hormones produced by pituitary hormone stimulation to target gland organs) and treatment of the two groups of subjects were described and the differences were analyzed.

There was no significant difference in pituitary hormone levels between the positive and negative pituitary MRI groups, indicating that there was no significant difference in pituitary function between the positive and negative pituitary MRI groups. χ² test was performed on whether bariatric surgery was performed in the pituitary MRI negative group and positive group, and the results were P>0.05, pituitary MRI results had no effect on the bariatric surgery.

For patients with highly suspected pituitary diseases in the history, clinical manifestations and laboratory examination, pituitary MRI should be performed to confirm the diagnosis. However, pituitary MRI is not recommended as a routine preoperative examination for patients with bariatric surgery.