Excellent Short- and Medium-term Result of Bariatric Surgery in Adolescence. A Single Center Study

Childhood obesity is becoming more frequent and the age of diagnosis has decreased. Although initially sceptic about bariatric surgery in children and adolescents the number of papers to advocate earlier bariatric interventions in this age group is now considerable. However, there are still a lot of controversies about bariatric surgery's indications and long-term results in these patients. Aim/Objective: To analyze the outcomes of bariatric surgery in a group of adolescents with obesity operated in our hospital. We analyzed retrospectively all the consecutive adolescent patients who underwent laparoscopic gastric sleeve or gastric bypass between 2013 and November 2019 in a Bariatric Center of Excellence, tracking the perioperative morbidity, the changes of BMI and comorbidities at 12 and 36 PO months. Sixty-four adolescent patients were included in the study, 62 with sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and two with gastric bypass (GBP). Mean age at operation was 15 years and 5 months (SD 18 months). Mean BMI before operation was 39.45 kg/m2 (SD 6.9) and decreased to 24.92 kg/m2 and 22.7kg/m2 by 12 and 36 months respectively. There were no major perioperative complications, but early transitory postoperative dysphagia in one case. The mean length of hospital stay was 3.2 days. Mild, medically manageable complications were encountered in the first postoperative year: (anemia (6/61), folate deficiency (5/61), constipation (22/61), temporary hair loss (12/61). Bariatric surgery is safe and effective in treating adolescent obesity, when preformed in experienced centers.