Overview
First-Ever Study Examines Effects of Adolescent Bariatic Surgery
Researchers at participating centers are conducting a multicenter study to examine -- for the first time -- the expected benefits and complications of adolescent bariatric surgery.
Background
Over the last three decades, the prevalence of obesity has tripled. Recent national studies published in JAMA and Pediatrics report between 15.5 and 37 percent of adolescents are obese, depending on which ethnic groups are examined. The increase in obesity has led to an increase in bariatric surgery among adolescents -- with little or no research examining the long-term physical and psychosocial effects.
Researchers at Cincinnati Children's have developed the leading clinical research program of its kind, and they're looking for answers with three major grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
About Teen-LABS
The Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) consortium, led by Thomas Inge, MD, PhD, and Meg Zeller, PhD, from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, has been awarded a $3.9 million NIH grant for a five-year, multicenter study assessing the health benefits and risks of bariatric surgery in adolescents.
This study is specifically seeking to enroll adolescents who are undergoing Bariatric surgery at participating centers. To learn more about bariatric surgery at the participating centers, see our Study Sites page.
"I hope our study will help surgeons make informed decisions regarding appropriate timing of surgery for young Americans, whose health is increasingly threatened by extreme obesity," says Dr. Inge, lead researcher and surgical director of the Comprehensive Weight Management Center at Cincinnati Children's.
The goal of Teen-LABS is to facilitate coordinated clinical, epidemiological and behavioral research in the field of adolescent bariatric surgery, through the cooperative development of common clinical protocols and a bariatric surgery database that will collect information from participating clinical centers performing bariatric surgery on teenagers.
Teen-LABS will help pool the necessary clinical expertise and administrative resources to facilitate the conduct of multiple clinical studies in a timely, efficient manner. Also, the use of standardized definitions, shared clinical protocols and data-collection instruments will enhance investigators' ability to provide meaningful, evidence-based recommendations for patient evaluation, selection and follow-up care.
An additional goal of Teen-LABS is to better understand the etiology, pathophysiology and behavioral aspects of severe obesity in youth and how this condition affects people over time. The Teen-LABS study will be aligned with the existing NIH sponsored adult bariatric research consortium and adolescent and adult outcomes will be compared. Researchers hope to learn whether or not the medical and psychosocial impairments associated with severe obesity in adolescence may be more effectively treated with surgery during adolescence rather than later in adulthood.
More than 70 patients have undergone bariatric surgery at Cincinnati Children's since the program began in 2001 -- making it the largest bariatric program for adolescents in the United States. The program is part of the Comprehensive Weight Management Center and offers a family-centered approach to treating obesity in teens, including long-term after care and emotional support.
