Increasing Utilization of Laparoscopic Gastric Banding in the Adolescent: Data from Academic Medical Centers, 2002-2009

Bariatric surgery in the adolescent continues to be a controversial topic. This study compared the utilization and perioperative outcomes of adolescent bariatric surgery performed at academic centers from 2002 to 2006 versus 2007 to 2009. We obtained data from the University HealthSystem Consortium for all adolescent patients (ages 12-18 years) who underwent bariatric surgery for the treatment of morbid obesity between 2002 and 2009. Outcomes including type of procedure, characteristics, length of stay, 30-day readmission, morbidity, and in-hospital mortality were compared between the two time periods. From 2007 to 2009, 340 adolescents underwent bariatric surgery at 63 academic hospitals. The mean number of adolescent bariatric procedures performed/year increased from 61.8 in 2002 to 2006 to 113.3 procedures/year in 2007 to 2009. There was an increase in utilization of laparoscopic gastric banding from 29 per cent to 50 per cent with a decrease in utilization of gastric bypass from 62 per cent to 48 per cent, respectively. For 2007 to 2009, the overall morbidity was 2.9 per cent with a 30-day readmission of 1.5 per cent and an in-hospital mortality of 0 per cent. Within the context of academic medical centers, adolescent bariatric surgery is associated with low morbidity and no mortality. Compared with 2002 to 2006, there has been an increase in the number of adolescent bariatric operations with increase in utilization of the laparoscopic gastric banding.