Trends in Adolescent Bariatric Procedures: a 15-Year Analysis of the National Inpatient Survey

Adolescents with severe obesity achieve superior health outcomes following metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) than medical treatment alone. Surgery results in significant and sustained decrease in BMI and reduces associated comorbidity. We characterized the changing demographics of adolescents who had MBS over a 15-year time period.

Using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes, the 2005-2019 National Inpatient Sample database was queried for patients < 20 years who underwent MBS. National trends, socio-demographics, and hospital resource utilization were analyzed.

Between 2005 and 2019, there were 16,381 pediatric hospitalizations for MBS. The annual MBS procedures increased from 839 cases in 2005 to 1785 in 2019. There was a significant shift away from laparoscopic gastric bypass (LGB) to sleeve gastrectomy (SG). Initially, LGB represented 67% of cases with no SG. In 2019, SG constituted 85% of MBS procedures, while LGB comprised only 14%. Patients were predominantly female (76%) and White (56%). Over time, there were considerable increases in patients with public insurance (12 to 46%) and Hispanics (11 to 30%). There was also a shift away from urban, non-teaching hospitals to urban, teaching hospitals. The average length of stay (LOS) decreased, while mean charges remained similar.

Our study demonstrates a gradual increase in the utilization of MBS among adolescents and a significant shift to SG. We observed a shift in MBS cases to teaching institutions, along with an increase in Hispanics and patients with public insurance. However, MBS remains underutilized, and effort should be made to increase early referral of adolescents for MBS evaluation.