Pediatric and adolescent obesity: management, options for surgery, and outcomes

Surgical site infection risk in neuromuscular scoliosis patients undergoing posterior spinal fusion

PURPOSE

Scoliosis in neuromuscular scoliosis (NMS) is a spinal deformity often treated with posterior spinal fusions (PSF). There is a relatively high risk to develop surgical site infection (SSI) after PSF in NMS compared to adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to determine perioperative risk factors for NMS patients undergoing PSF.

METHODS

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) Pediatric database was queried for patients who underwent PSF for NMS and/or cerebral palsy from 2015 to 2020. Statistical analysis of patient characteristics was completed utilizing likelihood ratio chi-squared test for categorical factors and median test or Wilcoxon rank sum test for quantitative factors. Logistic regression was used for odds ratios for quantitative factors.

RESULTS

4145 patients underwent PSF for NMS, and 102 developed an SSI (2.5%). Identified risk factors include American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) ≥ 3 (p = 0.030, odds ratio 2.4), preoperative corticosteroids (p = 0.049, odds ratio 2.4), preoperative ostomy (p = 0.026, odds ratio 1.6), prolonged anesthetic time (p = 0.045, odds ratio 1.09 per 60 min), prolonged operative time (p = 0.043, odds ratio 1.1 per 60 min), and postoperative development of urinary tract infection (UTI) (p < 0.001, odds ratio 4.5). Patients with SSI had higher body mass index (p = 0.047, odds ratio 1.3 per 5 kg/m2).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of deep SSI was 2.5% in this cohort, and risk factors include ASA ≥ 3, preoperative ostomy, prolonged anesthetic or operative time, and postoperative UTI. Large multicenter database studies can help identify and stratify risk factors for SSI in this high-risk patient population.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3

Childhood Obesity: An Updated Review

BACKGROUND

Childhood obesity is an important and serious public health problem worldwide.

OBJECTIVE

This article aims to familiarize physicians with the evaluation, management, and prevention of childhood.

METHODS

A PubMed search was conducted in May, 2021, in Clinical Queries using the key terms "obesity" OR "obese". The search included clinical trials, randomized controlled trials, case-control studies, cohort studies, meta-analyses, observational studies, clinical guidelines, case reports, case series, and reviews. The search was restricted to English literature and children. The information retrieved from the above search was used in the compilation of the present article.

RESULTS

Most obese children have exogenous obesity characterized by a growth rate for height above the 50th percentile, normal intelligence, normal genitalia, and lack of historical or physical evidence of an endocrine abnormality or a congenital syndrome. Obese children are at risk for dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea, psychosocial disturbances, impaired quality of life, and shorter life expectancy. The multitude of serious comorbidities necessitates effective treatment modalities. Dietary modification, therapeutic exercise, and behavioral modification are the fundamentals of treatment. Pharmacotherapy and/or bariatric surgery should be considered for obese individuals who do not respond to the above measures and suffer from a serious comorbid condition.

CONCLUSION

Childhood obesity, once established, is often refractory to treatment. Most treatment programs lead to a brief period of weight loss, followed by rapid re-accumulation of the lost weight after the termination of therapy. As such, preventive activity is the key to solving the problem of childhood obesity. Childhood obesity can be prevented by promoting a healthy diet, regular physical activity, and lifestyle modification. Parents should be encouraged to get involved in school and community programs that improve their children's nutritional status and physical activity.

Childhood Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The global epidemic of youth-onset obesity is tightly linked to the rising burden of cardiometabolic disease across the lifespan. While the link between childhood obesity and cardiovascular disease is established, this contemporary review summarizes recent and novel advances in this field that elucidate the mechanisms and impact of this public health issue.

RECENT FINDINGS

The review highlights the emerging data supporting the relationship between childhood adverse events, social determinants of health, and systemic and institutional systems as etiological factors. We also provide updates on new screening and treatment approaches including updated nutrition and dietary guidelines and benchmarks for pediatric obesity screening, novel pharmacological agents for pediatric obesity and type 2 diabetes such as glucagon-like 1 peptide receptor agonists, and we discuss the long-term safety and efficacy data on surgical management of pediatric obesity. The global burden of pediatric obesity continues to rise and is associated with accelerated and early vascular aging especially in youth with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Socio-ecological determinants of risk mediate and moderate the relationship of childhood obesity with cardiometabolic disease. Recognizing the importance of neighborhood level influences as etiological factors in the development of cardiovascular disease is critical for designing effective policies and interventions. Novel surgical and pharmacological interventions are effective pediatric weight-loss interventions, but future research is needed to assess whether these agents, within a socio-ecological framework, will be associated with abatement of the pediatric obesity epidemic and related increased cardiovascular disease risk.

Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery for Pediatric Patients With Severe Obesity

Severe obesity affects the health and well-being of millions of children and adolescents in the United States and is widely considered to be an "epidemic within an epidemic" that poses a major public health crisis. Currently, few effective treatments for severe obesity exist. Metabolic and bariatric surgery are existing but underuse treatment options for pediatric patients with severe obesity. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and vertical sleeve gastrectomy are the most commonly performed metabolic and bariatric procedures in the United States and have been shown to result in sustained short-, mid-, and long-term weight loss, with associated resolution of multiple obesity-related comorbid diseases. Substantial evidence supports the safety and effectiveness of surgical weight loss for children and adolescents, and robust best practice guidelines for these procedures exist.

Energy Management for Personalized Weight Reduction (EMPOWER) Program: Three-Year Outcome Data

BACKGROUND

The current consensus guidelines for management of pediatric obesity recommend clinic-based, family-centered, multi-disciplinary interventions. It is well reported that these programs often only lead to modest improvements in BMI status. The individual factors that differentiate which patient's BMI status will improve vs. worsen remains understudied. A retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the outcomes of EMPOWER clinic and identify the participant specific characteristics that predicted BMI status improvement in this population.

METHODS

Youth who completed at least 6 visits in EMPOWER were included. Paired t-test was utilized to evaluate the mean change in zBMI, modified BMIz and %BMIp95 from baseline to 6th visit, and multivariate mixed effect models were utilized to analyze effect of baseline characteristics on change in BMI status.

RESULTS

92 participants were included in the analysis, 87% with severe obesity and 66% Hispanic. At the 6th visit, there was a significant reduction in zBMI (-0.09 SD, p <0.001) and modified BMIz (-0.0003 SD, p = 0.04) with a small reduction in %BMIp95 (-1.15 %, p = 0.20). Lower BMI status (p < 0.001) and absence of a comorbidity (p < 0.05) at baseline were predictors of BMI status improvement whereas age, gender, ethnicity, family history of obesity and insurance status were not significant predictors.

CONCLUSIONS

Given that implementation of the current guidelines for management of obesity in pediatrics only results in modest BMI status reduction, further investigation is required to understand how the determinants of obesity-related health outcomes can guide development of more innovative, effective interventions for this high risk population.

National survey for bariatric procedures in adolescents: Long time follow-up

INTRODUCTION

The role of bariatric surgery and its role in adolescent is still under discussion worldwide. The aim of this study is to report an Italian survey for bariatric procedures in adolescents and the outcome with a medium and long-term follow-up.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed consecutive data added into the Italian register of the society for bariatric surgery(period 2000-2010). We evaluated all patients treated in a 10-year period with a mean follow-up of 3 years. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were created. All patients were aged between 13 and 18 years. We evaluated and compared clinical data.

RESULTS

After reviewing medical charts, 173 patients were considered for the study; 85 patients were treated with adjustable gastric band (AGB), 47 with intragastric balloon (IB), 26 with sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and other 15 patients with malabsorptive techniques (MT). Among clinical data, there was a statistical difference in terms of %excess weight loss (%EWL) between techniques only after 1 year post-procedure; at 5 years, considering the percentage of patients studied, sleeve gastrectomy had the best %EWL respect to other non malabsorptive techniques (p<0.05); at 5 year more than 90% resolved their comorbidities especially hypertension, dyspnea, orthopedic problems and dyspnea.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first reporting a national survey in adolescent; more than 80% of patients are followed until 5 years post-op but only few patients (less than 5%) until 10 years. Our results demonstrated that sleeve gastrectomy in adolescent is safe and had a better %EWL respect to other non-malabsorptive bariatric procedures.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

level III.

Predicting Short-term Morbidity in Patients Undergoing Posterior Spinal Fusion for Neuromuscular Scoliosis

STUDY DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors for short-term morbidity following posterior spinal fusion (PSF) for neuromuscular scoliosis (NMS).

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

NMS is a challenging spinal deformity for which PSF is often recommended. There is a lack of information on risk factors for short-term adverse outcomes after PSF for NMS.

METHODS

Patients who underwent PSF for NMS during 2012 and 2013 were identified from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) Pediatric database. Patient characteristics were tested for association with adverse events, infectious complications, extended length of stay (LOS), and readmission using multivariate regression.

RESULTS

Of the 940 NMS patients identified, 133 (14.1%) had an adverse event and 99 (10.5%) had a severe adverse event. American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification ≥3 was found to be the only independent risk factor for any adverse event (relative risk [RR] 2.2, P = 0.012) and severe adverse events (RR 2.5, P = 0.008). Infectious complications were associated with body mass index (BMI)-for-age ≥95th percentile (RR 2.8, P = 0.005), ASA classification ≥3 (RR 5.9, P = 0.003), and instrumentation to the pelvis (RR 1.8, P = 0.039).A total of 254 patients (27%) spent longer than a week in the hospital postoperatively, and ASA classification ≥3 (RR 2.3, P < 0.001), preoperative seizure disorder (RR 1.4, P = 0.002), previous cardiac surgery (RR 1.6, P = 0.004), operative time ≥470 minutes (RR 1.8, P < 0.001), and ≥13 levels instrumented (RR 1.9, P = 0.001) were associated with extended LOS.Seventy-six patients (8.1%) were readmitted, and BMI-for-age ≥95th percentile (RR 1.8, P = 0.033) was the only risk factor found for readmission.

CONCLUSION

The identified factors associated with poor short-term outcomes after PSF for NMS can be used as benchmark data, be useful for optimizing patient care, and can inform future studies in these patients.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

3.

Patient factors are associated with poor short-term outcomes after posterior fusion for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

BACKGROUND

Posterior spinal fusion (PSF) is commonly performed for patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Identifying factors associated with perioperative morbidity and PSF may lead to strategies for reducing the frequency of adverse events (AEs) in patients and total hospital costs.

QUESTIONS/PURPOSES

What is the frequency of and what factors are associated with postoperative: (1) AEs, (2) extended length of stay (LOS), and (3) readmission in patients with AIS undergoing PSF?

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients, aged 11 to 18 years, who underwent PSF for AIS during 2012, were identified from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program® (ACS NSQIP®) Pediatric database. Patient were assessed for characteristics associated with AEs, extended LOS (defined as more than 6 days), and hospital readmission using multivariate logistic regression. Individual AEs captured in the database were grouped into two categories, "any adverse event" (AAE) and "severe adverse events" (SAEs) for analysis. A total of 733 patients met inclusion criteria.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven patients (3.7%) had AAE and 19 patients (2.6%) had SAEs. Both AAE and SAEs were associated with BMI-for-age ninety-fifth percentile or greater (AAE: odds ratio [OR], 3.31; 95% CI, 1.43-7.65; p=0.005. SAE: OR, 3.46; 95% CI, 1.32-9.09; p=0.012). Extended LOS occurred for 60 patients (8.2%) and was associated with greater than 13 levels instrumented (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.11-3.61; p=0.021) and operative time of 365 minutes or more (OR, 2.57; 95% CI, 1.39-4.76; p=0.003). Readmission occurred for 11 patients (1.5%), most often for surgical site infection, and was associated with the occurrence of any complication during the initial hospital stay (OR, 180.44; 95% CI, 35.47-917.97; p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Further research on prevention and management of obesity and surgical site infections may reduce perioperative morbidity for patients with AIS undergoing PSF.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III, prognostic study. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.