[Bariatric surgery in children and adolescents].

Obesity in childhood and adolescents has gained epidemic proportions; in Germany 15-20 % of boys and girls are overweight, more than 6 % are known to be obese. By now, 25 % of relevant people show a pathological glucose intolerance, 4-5 % are developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In addition, metabolic disorders leading to hypertension and cardiac, renal or ophthalmological complications could be named as serious comorbidities.

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy achieves substantial weight loss in an adolescent girl with morbid obesity.

Background: The European guidelines for bariatric surgery clearly define criteria for operating children with morbid obesity. However the appropriate technique for this age-group has not been identified yet. So far gastric banding and Roux-Y bypass represent the standards, but they demand life-long tolerance of either an artificial device or significant malabsorption.