Is Bariatric (weight loss) surgery a saft and effective option for severely #obese children or adolescents?

Weight loss surgery among adolescents (aged 11-17) is becoming increasingly common in Europe and the US, but is still rare among Asian patients. According to estimates from U.S. News and World Report, about 1,500 to 2,000 teenagers receive bariatric surgery in the US each year, out of an estimated 180,000 overall cases including adults. In Asia, statistics show a monumental rise in child obesity: 46 million children were characterised as obese and 300 million described as overweight in China alone, according to a 2014 study. Meanwhile, in Malaysia, often described as Southeast Asia’s ‘fattest’ country, over a quarter of children were reported to be overweight or obese. In light of this trend, Global Health and Travel asked bariatric surgeons across the region if they see weight loss surgery as a viable, safe option for dangerously obese teenagers who cannot lose weight by conventional means.

At the moment in Hong Kong, the guidelines for bariatric surgery currently exclude patients who are under 18. We have had, in the past, a few cases that we did surgery for adolescents, but they were under experimental trial settings in university hospitals.

Recently there’s been quite a bit more attention in particular from the US, in performing bariatric surgery for obese children or adolescents, with some pretty good results. However, the current consensus is that it’s not really for the average bariatric surgeon to apply this in Asia yet.
Currently there are just a few operations that have been studied for adolescents, like laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, laparoscopic gastric band, and gastric bypass. There are, of course a whole range of other surgeries that are available, but they might not be suitable for adolescents.



 







Reference information: http://www.obesitysurgery.com.hk/english.html
The information aims to provide educational purpose only.
Anyone reading it should consult Surgery Specialist before considering treatment and should not rely on the information above.