Dr. Podkameni shares advice for parents considering bariatric surgery to treat their obese children and explains how the criteria for bariatric surgery differs for kids. Dr. Podkameni specializes in pediatric and laparoscopic bariatric surgery at Banner Gateway Bariatric Center in Gilbert, Arizona.
Dr. Podkameni:
I think there are two important things that a parent needs to put in their mind and when they are making a decision in terms of bariatric surgery, especially for adolescents. One is that they try everything in terms of non-surgical therapy, and the second thing is knowing the failure rate of non-surgical therapy. It is extremely high failure rate and you have to take into account that obese adolescents and obese kids will be, in most of the cases, adults who are obese in about 80% of the time.
If you can decrease their morbidity, especially regarding obesity-related diseases, yes they will have a much better outcome through their life. They will have a much better adulthood trying to avoid hypertension, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, which is high cholesterol, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes, and sleep apnea as well.
Well, the most important thing when one picks the procedure is to understand the procedures first. If it’s a LAP-BAND®, if it’s a gastric bypass, a sleeve or duodenal switch, the patient and the parents, they need to understand fully the procedure – that’s first step.
The second step is, are there any morbid conditions associated to your disease? Is there diabetes involved? There is no diabetes involved. There is some data showing that diabetic patients do better with gastric bypass than they do with other procedures. So I think this is an important step that they have to follow is to get information about the procedures, but not just that, and talk to your doctor, talk to your surgeon when you decide about one procedure is to see if there was any involvement or if there is any comorbidities associated to that procedure.
It is different in a way that we should wait for their spurt where they had their growth spurt first. We should evaluate not just adolescent, but also the family because if we don’t correct the problems on the household it’s going to be extremely difficult for them to succeed after surgery.
About Dr. David Podkameni, M.D.:
Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dr. Podkameni started his general surgery training at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York in 1996. He then returned to Brazil, where he became board certified in general and pediatric surgery. Dr. Podkameni finished his minimally invasive/laparoscopy training at the Cleveland Clinic in 2004. He serves as medical director of the Banner Gateway Bariatric Center. Dr. Podkameni specializes in Bariatric Surgery and General Surgery.
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Keywords:
Condition: Obesity Morbid Obesity, Weight Loss, Morbidly Obese
Related Terms: Adolescent Bariatric Surgery, Obese Family History, Weight Loss, Nutrition, BMI, Body Mass Index
Health Care Provider: Banner Hospital, Banner Medical Center, Banner Bariatric, Banner Gateway, Banner Health, Banner Bariatric Center, Banner Gateway Medical Center
Location: Gilbert, Phoenix, AZ, Arizona, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Queen Creek, Higley, Apache Junction, Sun Lakes 85234
Expert: Dr. David Podkameni, Dr. Podkameni, Bariatric Surgery David Podkameni, Doctor Podkameni, David Podkameni, M.D.
Expertise: Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery, Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery, Adrenalectomy, Splenectomy, Cholecystectomy, Pediatric Surgery