Advances in foregut and bariatric surgery in adolescents

Evolution and advances in minimal invasive surgery are exponentially increasing and becoming the markers of the 21st Century. This evolution from conventional multiport, hand-assisted laparoscopic to single incision surgery; robotic surgery; and recently the combined novel approach, NOTES, is adding more benefits to the already established good outcomes with laparoscopic surgery in most general abdominal surgeries. Although robot-assisted surgery has some clear advantages over conventional laparoscopic techniques, especially in small spaces such as the pelvis where a higher degree of freedom and smaller instruments are needed, the cost and the lack of convincing data are major limiting factors in applying this approach widely in general surgery. Obesity is increasing and becoming a major threat to adolescents, especially in view of obesity-related comorbidities. For the best treatment options, potential candidates should be referred to centers equipped to meet the tertiary care needs of severely obese patients that have multidisciplinary weight management teams with expertise in meeting the unique needs of obese adolescents.