Four-year weight outcomes of laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery and adjustable gastric banding among multiethnic adolescents

Background: Extreme obesity among U.S. adolescents is a serious problem and has disproportionally affected ethnic minorities. Recently, surgical intervention for morbid obesity in adolescents has gained increasing support. Little information is available on the long-term effectiveness of bariatric surgery among ethnic minority adolescents. We have reported the weight and body mass index (BMI) results for a large cohort of predominantly Hispanic adolescents who underwent bariatric surgery in a private practice setting.

Methods: A retrospective medical chart analysis of 78 adolescents (77% Hispanic, 19% non-Hispanic white, 1% non-Hispanic black, and 3% other; 77% female; 16-19 years old), who had undergone gastric bypass or banding surgery from 2002 to 2009, was conducted. All patients had met the National Institutes of Health criteria for bariatric surgery. Repeated measures mixed linear modeling was used to assess the changes in weight/BMI from baseline to 4 years after surgery.

Results: Non-Hispanic whites had lost 104.81 lb and 17.29 BMI units at 1 year after surgery (P <.001 for both). Hispanics had lost 91.55 lb and 15.06 BMI units at 1 year after surgery (P <.001 for both). The non-Hispanic whites had lost 18.56 BMI units and Hispanics 16.15 units during the 4 year postoperative period. A weight loss plateau occurred at 12 months for the non-Hispanic whites and at 18 months for the Hispanics; both groups had maintained their weight loss at 4 years after surgery.

Conclusion: Bariatric surgery resulted in significant weight loss that was maintained at 4 years postoperatively among obese ethnic minority adolescents. Our results have shown that bariatric surgery is a safe and effective treatment option for permanent weight improvements in this demographic.