Guests: Marc P. Michalsky, MD, FACS, director of bariatric surgery and surgical director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH.
Approximately 17 percent of the pediatric and adolescent populations are considered obese.
In this episode of The Recovery Room, host Dr. Rick Greene addresses these issues with guest Marc P. Michalsky, MD, FACS, an expert in bariatric surgery in children and adolescents.
“Anyone with a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or higher…means that you are, by definition, a candidate at least to have a conversation about surgical intervention,” Dr. Michalsky said. “When you look at groups of individuals who are in this very high category of body mass index, the more conventional, nonsurgical methods of weight loss tend to work much less successfully.”
Dr. Michalsky said the conclusion thus far is that weight loss operations are safe and efficacious. However, other questions arise about the ability of children to do well in school after such an operation, and the impact on a possible future pregnancy. An important decision must also be made in choosing the right facility for a weight loss procedure.
To find out more, listen to this episode of The Recovery Room.
Marc P. Michalsky, MD, FACS, is the director of bariatric surgery and surgical director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH. He is also involved in research examining outcomes following surgical weight reduction in the morbidly obese adolescent population.