Changes in weight and co-morbidities among adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery: 1-year results from the Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database

Abstract

Background: Bariatric surgery is 1 of the few effective treatments of morbid obesity. However, the weight loss and other health-related outcomes for this procedure in large, diverse adolescent patient populations have not been well characterized. Our objective was to analyze the prospective Bariatric Outcomes Longitudinal Database (BOLD) to determine the weight loss and health related outcomes in adolescents. The BOLD data are collected from 423 surgeons at 360 facilities in the United States.

Methods: The main outcome measures included the anthropometric and co-morbidity status at baseline (n = 890) and at 3 (n = 786), 6 (n = 541), and 12 (n = 259) months after surgery. Adolescents (75% female; 68% non-Hispanic white, 14% Hispanic, 11% non-Hispanic black, and 6% other) aged 11 to 19 years were included in the present analyses.

Results: The overall 1-year mean weight loss for those who underwent gastric bypass surgery was more than twice that of those who underwent adjustable gastric band surgery (48.6 versus 20 kg, P < .001). Similar results were found for all other anthropometric changes and comparisons within 1 year between surgery types (P < .001). In general, the gastric bypass patients reported more improvement than the adjustable gastric band patients in co-morbidities at 1 year after surgery. A total of 45 readmissions occurred among gastric bypass patients and 10 among adjustable gastric band patients, with 29 and 8 reoperations required, respectively.

Conclusions: The weight loss at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery is approximately double in adolescent males and females who underwent gastric bypass surgery versus those who underwent adjustable gastric band surgery. Bariatric surgery can safely and substantially reduce weight and related co-morbidities in morbidly obese adolescents for ≥1 year.

Keywords: Adolescents; Bariatric surgery; Cardiovascular outcomes; Morbid obesity; Weight outcomes.