Faculty Collaboration Database

Bariatric surgery for severely overweight adolescents: concerns and recommendations. Pediatrics 2004 Jul;114(1):217-23

Date

07/03/2004

Pubmed ID

15231931

DOI

10.1542/peds.114.1.217

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-3042791287 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   482 Citations

Abstract

As the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related disease among adolescents in the United States continues to increase, physicians are increasingly faced with the dilemma of determining the best treatment strategies for affected patients. This report offers an approach for the evaluation of adolescent patients' candidacy for bariatric surgery. In addition to anthropometric measurements and comorbidity assessments, a number of unique factors must be critically assessed among overweight youths. In an effort to reduce the risk of adverse medical and psychosocial outcomes and increase compliance and follow-up monitoring after bariatric surgery, principles of adolescent growth and development, the decisional capacity of the patient, family structure, and barriers to adherence must be considered. Consideration for bariatric surgery is generally warranted only when adolescents have experienced failure of 6 months of organized weight loss attempts and have met certain anthropometric, medical, and psychologic criteria. Adolescent candidates for bariatric surgery should be very severely obese (defined by the World Health Organization as a body mass index of > or =40), have attained a majority of skeletal maturity (generally > or =13 years of age for girls and > or =15 years of age for boys), and have comorbidities related to obesity that might be remedied with durable weight loss. Potential candidates for bariatric surgery should be referred to centers with multidisciplinary weight management teams that have expertise in meeting the unique needs of overweight adolescents. Surgery should be performed in institutions that are equipped to meet the tertiary care needs of severely obese patients and to collect long-term data on the clinical outcomes of these patients.

Author List

Inge TH, Krebs NF, Garcia VF, Skelton JA, Guice KS, Strauss RS, Albanese CT, Brandt ML, Hammer LD, Harmon CM, Kane TD, Klish WJ, Oldham KT, Rudolph CD, Helmrath MA, Donovan E, Daniels SR

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adolescent
Body Mass Index
Female
Gastric Bypass
Gastroplasty
Humans
Informed Consent
Male
Mental Competency
Obesity, Morbid
Parental Consent
Patient Education as Topic
Patient Selection
Postoperative Complications