Gastric Bypass and Stomach Banding for Teens

By Betsy Lievense, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivnahoe Newswire) -- Gastric bypass surgery worked wonders for 53-year-old Al Roker and 39-year-old Carnie Wilson, but what about overweight teens?

Thomas Inge, M.D., Ph.D., a surgeon at the Cincinatti Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio told Ivanhoe bariatric surgery can be very beneficial for morbidly obese teens. His opinion coincides with a recent study conducted at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J., which shows teens recover more quickly from bariatric procedures like gastric bypass surgery and stomach banding than adults. Teens who participated in the study spent less time in the hospital and were less likely to die during and after surgery than their fully-grown counterparts.

"I think the first thing the study suggests to me is that surgery may be better applied earlier in the lifetime for someone who's morbidly obese," said Dr. Inge. "It's pretty clear the risks of the surgery seem to be lower for teenagers than for somebody who's had 30 or 40 or 50 years of obesity to make them less-healthy candidates."

Using data from a nationwide sample of community hospitals, study authors report roughly 2,744 adolescents between ages 10 and 19 opt for bariatric surgery each year. Although the number of teens who underwent gastric bypass and stomach banding surgery tripled between 2000 and 2003, adolescents still account for less than 1 percent of all bariatric surgeries performed in the United States.

"The lower numbers are probably simply a reflection of the lower numbers of morbid obesity in adolescents," said Dr. Inge. "There are 2 million morbidly obese kids and teenagers today, and there are probably 10 million or 12 million morbidly obese adults." Study authors report most teens try to lose weight by modifying their diet or changing their behavior. Although the risks of bariatric surgery are similar for adolescents and adults, researchers say teens are more likely to experience respiratory problems after surgery than people over the age of 20.

Although Dr. Inge advocates surgery for morbidly obese teens, he urges pediatricians to use a great deal of discretion when recommending the procedure for pre-teens younger than 12 or 13 years old.

"We do advise pediatricians that most pre-teens are probably not going to be mentally and psychologically prepared for this kind of intervention," he said. "At the same time, when we have treated patients who are 12 or 13 years old, we have noticed they have been very compliant. As long as there is a bona-fide medical reason, patients shouldn't be excluded from surgery just because they are a certain age."

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Thomas Inge, M.D., Ph.D; Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 2007;159: 217-221