Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy shows long-term positive outcomes in obese teenagers

Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG) is found to be a long-lasting weight loss intervention for teenagers, says an article published in Obesity Surgery.

Globally, childhood and teenage obesity is on the rise and puts people at risk for early sickness, difficult psychological problems, and even mortality. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recognized metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) as the best effective treatment for adolescents who have extreme obesity. Even though MBS is very successful, there is still debate over the best kind of surgery. The two surgical procedures used in adolescent bariatric surgery are laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and Roux en Y gastric bypass (RYGB), with LSG becoming more common in this age group over the past ten years.

Goldenshluger and colleagues conducted this study to report on the long-term weight reduction and status of obesity-related comorbidities in adolescents receiving laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Between January 2008 and July 2014, patients under the age of 18 who underwent LSG had their prospectively collected data retrospectively analyzed.

The key findings of this study were:

1. 46 individuals received LSG throughout the research period; 31 of them (67.39%) underwent long-term follow-up and were included in the analysis.

2. 10.84 ± 2.35 years on average were spent in follow-up.

3. There were 18 women, or 58%. Mean body mass index (BMI) decreased by 33.24% (P 0.001) from 44.94 ± 4.33 kg/m2 to 30.11 710 before and 10 years after surgery, respectively.

4. TWL% over the long run was 32.31 ± 12.02. 21 individuals (67.74%) had a BMI of less than 30 kg/m2.

5. In 8 individuals (88.9%, P 0.001) after weight loss, hypertension was found to have resolved.

6. Gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD) and baldness were frequent long-term adverse effects after surgery in 22.58% and 48.39%, respectively.

7. In 22.58% of the patients, symptomatic cholelithiasis required cholecystectomy.

8. The total patient satisfaction over the long term was 8.97 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Reference:

Goldenshluger, M., Iluz, R., Beck, T., Adileh, M., Segev, L., Froilych, D., Goldenshluger, A., Geron, N., Goitein, D., & Hazzan, D. (2022). Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy in Adolescents: Ten-Years Follow-up. In Obesity Surgery. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-022-06348-7