Bariatric Surgery In Kids And Adolescents

Earlier this week I spoke at the 5th Conference on Childhood and Adolescent Obesity, organised by Jon McGavock and colleagues from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, where one of the topics discussed in depth was the role of bariatic surgery in children and adolescents with severe obesity.

This is obviously an issue fraught with social, psychological, medical and ethical issues – no one wants to have to do surgery on these kids but there are often no other alternatives when behavioural interventions are simply not enough.

Now a review of this rather complex field by Halley Wasserman and Thomas Inge from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center appears in Pediatric Annals.

The paper discusses in depth the indications and potential benefits of bariatric surgery in adolescents with severe obesity but also highlights the important acute and long-term complications that must be monitored during follow-up (usually by their general pediatricians).

This article should of interest to anyone who counsels children and adolescents with severe obesity in their practice.

@DrSharma
Orlando, FL

Wasserman H, & Inge TH (2014). Bariatric surgery in obese adolescents: opportunities and challenges. Pediatric annals, 43 (9) PMID: 25198448

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