Short-term results in 53 US obese pediatric patients treated with laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.

BACKGROUND: Obesity in the adolescent population has reached epidemic proportions. Although diet and behavior modification can help a minority of teenagers, most of these patients go on to become obese adults. Recently, surgical intervention for morbid obesity has gained increasing support. To date, this has only included gastric bypass procedures. However, this procedure carries at least a 1% mortality rate even in the hands of the most experienced surgeons. Therefore, our center has been using laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) to treat adolescents with morbid obesity. This analysis is a report of our short-term results in our first 53 patients.

METHODS: All adolescents aged 13 to 17 years who had undergone LAGB at our institution and had been entered into our prospectively collected database since 2001 were reviewed. Data collected preoperatively included age, sex, race, and body mass index (BMI). Postoperatively recorded data included length of stay, operative morbidity, need for reoperation, as well as percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL) and BMI at 3-month intervals.

RESULTS: Fifty-three teenagers aged 13 to 17 years (mean, 15.9 years) underwent LAGB at our institution since September 2001. Of these, 41 were female and 12 were male. The mean preoperative weight was 297 +/- 53 lb and the mean initial BMI was 47.6 +/- 6.7 kg/m2. The %EWL was 37.5 +/- 17.0 at 6 months, 62.7 +/- 27.6 at 1 year, and 48.5 +/- 15.6 at 18 months of follow-up. There were no intraoperative complications. Two patients had band slips that required laparoscopic repositioning, and 2 patients developed a symptomatic hiatal hernia that required laparoscopic repair. All of these procedures were performed as outpatient procedures. A fifth patient developed a wound infection requiring incision and drainage. Other complications included mild hair loss in 5 patients, iron deficiency in 4 patients, nephrolithiasis and cholelithiasis in 1 patient, and gastroesophageal reflux in 1 patient.

CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding is not only a safe operation for morbidly obese pediatric patients, but also represents an effective treatment strategy with a %EWL of approximately 50% at both 1 year and 18 months of follow-up. Because of the minimal morbidity and complete absence of mortality of the LAGB, it is the optimal surgical option for pediatric patients with morbid obesity.