Ten years after undergoing bariatric surgery as teens, more than half of study participants demonstrated not only sustained weight loss, but also resolution of obesity-related conditions like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, according to researchers.
“Our study presents impressive outcomes of the longest follow-up of weight loss surgery during adolescence, which validates bariatric surgery as a safe and effective long-term obesity management strategy,” said lead author Justin Ryder, PhD, vice-chair of research for the Department of Surgery at Ann & Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Associate Professor of Surgery and Paediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Nationally, reports MedicalXPress, bariatric surgery is under-utilised, with only one out of every 2 500 teens with severe obesity undergoing the procedure. In the US, almost 5m adolescents are eligible for effective weight loss interventions like bariatric surgery, according to current recommendations.
A total of 260 adolescents participated long term in the Teen-LABS study, which found that 55% of the participants who had type 2 diabetes as teenagers and underwent surgery were still in remission of their diabetes at 10 years.
“This is considerably better than the outcomes reported in people who underwent bariatric surgery as adults, a major reason why treating obesity seriously in adolescents is so important,” wrote Ryder in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In fact, a recent multi-centre randomised controlled trial found diabetes type 2 remission in adults to be 12%–18% at seven to 12 years after bariatric surgery.
When Teen-LABS investigators analysed outcomes of 260 patients at 10 years after bariatric surgery as teenagers (13-19 years old), they found that the body mass index (BMI) had declined by 20%.
“The fascinating part is that when we use these operations in teenagers, the remission of health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure are more durable than when operations are done later in adulthood,” said Thomas Inge, MD, Ph.D., Principal Investigator of the Teen-LABS study and Surgeon-in-Chief at Lurie Children’s.
NEJM article – Ten-Year Outcomes after Bariatric Surgery in Adolescents (Restricted access)
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US childhood obesity guidelines now include drugs and surgery
Bariatric surgery link to reduced mortality risk in obese patients
Start counselling for obese children from age six – US panel