ACS Bulletin: Surgeons Address Adolescent Obesity with Bariatric Surgery

The Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons featured Dr. Nestor de la Cruz-Muñoz, then chief of bariatric surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, in its coverage of bariatric surgery for adolescents.

The article describes his Journal of the American College of Surgeons study, in which his team re-contacted 96 of the 130 adolescents he operated on between 2002 and 2010. Weight loss was about 44% of total body weight at two years and about 32% nearly 15 years later, and more than 90% of patients said they were happy with the results.

He explained his approach: try behavioral and dietary treatment first, refer when those fall short, and speak with adolescents directly to confirm they can commit to the treatment plan.