Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents undergoing metabolic bariatric surgery

Background: While the lasting effect of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, the impact on adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery remains unseen.

Objective: We examined the impact of the pandemic on adolescents undergoing metabolic bariatric surgery.

Setting: Academic hospital, New York, NY.

Methods: A single-institution review of prospectively collected data evaluated adolescents who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy between 2010 and 2023, forming two cohorts: pre-COVID (before March 1, 2019) and COVID (after March 1, 2020). Absolute and percent weight loss and body mass index (BMI) change at 6 and 12 months postsurgery were compared between cohorts. Multivariable linear regression models were constructed to estimate the association between weight loss, adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, and BMI.

Results: A total of 358 patients were included: 245 in the pre-COVID cohort and 113 in the COVID cohort. There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics. There were no significant differences between cohorts at 6 months in weight loss (21.6 kg vs. 22.5 kg, P = .43), percent weight loss (18% vs. 18%, P = .63), and BMI change (8.0 vs. 8.4, P = .39) which was maintained at 12 months. In multivariate models, after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, and baseline BMI, undergoing surgery during the pandemic was not associated with a difference in weight loss or BMI change at 6 and 12 months postoperatively.

Conclusion: Despite the severe societal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy remained a durable intervention for adolescent obesity, with no observed differences in weight loss in patients undergoing surgery during the pandemic compared to prepandemic.