Comparative outcomes of laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in adolescents and adults

Background: Obesity is a major health problem in all age groups. Morbidly obese adolescents often fail to lose weight with diet and exercise and, as adults, become candidates for surgical intervention. Methods: We matched adolescents (14-19 yr) and adults (19-73 yr) retrospectively from university medical center-based adolescent and adult obesity surgery programs who had undergone laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding by gender and body mass index (n = 115). Results: The most common co-morbid condition in adolescents was menstrual irregularity/polycystic ovary syndrome. Hypertension was the most common co-morbid condition in adults. The adults were nearly 9 times as likely to be diabetic as the adolescents. We analyzed patients with >= 6 months of follow-up for the percentage of excess weight loss at 6-month intervals for <= 24 months. Both groups demonstrated progressive weight loss that did not differ significantly in the initial 12 months; however, the data beyond 12 months were limited by the small numbers. Conclusion: The presence of more serious co-morbidities in obese adults, coupled with the successful weight loss after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, in adolescents suggests that weight loss surgery might be indicated at a younger age for severely obese individuals. (Surg Obes Relat Dis 2011;7:720-726.) (C) 2011 American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. All rights reserved.