Is surgery the answer for morbid obesity in adolescence?(Journal Watch Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine)

* Having had little success in treating obesity in the pediatric population, clinicians are seeking new approaches to this problem. Although various surgical techniques are effective in adults with morbid obesity, the possibility of complications has led to the avoidance of such interventions in patients younger than 18 years. These authors describe their experience with 8 female and 3 male adolescents (age range, 11 to 17) who underwent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. The patients, who met National Institutes of Health criteria for morbid obesity, had failed to lose weight despite a low-calorie diet.

No patient experienced perioperative complications. During …