title: Bariatric surgery for morbidly obese adolescents: is there a rationale for early intervention?
abstract: Obesity is one of the most common metabolic disorders affecting the US population: 31% of adults and 16% of adolescents now meet the criteria for obesity. Similar to the rising prevalence of morbid obesity in adults, the prevalence of more severe obesity is also increasing in pediatric patients. The most effective treatment for morbid obesity is bariatric surgery, a procedure most commonly performed in the fifth and sixth decades of life. Although it is clear that rapid, profound weight loss can significantly improve multiple comorbid conditions in adults, including disordered carbohydrate metabolism, obstructive sleep apnea, and cardiovascular risk factors, it is not clear to what degree similar comorbidities are affected in adolescents undergoing surgical weight loss. In this paper, the indications, contraindications, and early surgical outcomes of gastric bypass surgery for morbidly obese adolescents are reviewed, and important directions for future research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery, Comprehensive Weight Management Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, OSB 3320, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039, USA. thomas.inge@cchmc.org
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Inge
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000715:Anatomy; D050110:Bariatric Surgery / Q000941:ethics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015390:Gastric Bypass / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D008660:Metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000601:surgery*; D011908:Rationalization; D016896:Treatment Outcome