Laparoscopic gastric bypass for the adolescent patient: long-term results

Obesity is a major public health problem in the developed world. The National Survey of Children's Health 2003 estimated around 17 million children in the USA to be overweight, making this a significantly alarming disease in the young population. Findings from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey demonstrated at least 30 % of overweight adolescents to be suffering from the metabolic syndrome. Combined metabolic and restrictive bariatric operations have been shown to improve or resolve these various comorbidities, and surgical therapy is recommended as a part of a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of morbid obesity in adults. Data in the adolescent population are sparse.

This is a retrospective, descriptive study of prospectively collected data over 10 years. Twenty-five adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 years underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGBP) using a standard technique by a single surgeon with follow-up of at least 5 years.

Twenty of the 25 patients were available for follow-up from 5 to 10 years after their operation. Average BMI preop/postop was 45.7/28.6 kg/m(2). Average percentage of excess body weight loss was 77.7 %. Average BMI change was 17.1.

Our long-term data demonstrate that laparoscopic RYGBP is a safe and effective operation for morbidly obese adolescents, in the proper setting. We advocate that surgical intervention be recommended for this population using the same NIH guidelines used for adults.