The Washington University Weight Loss Surgery Program is now accredited for adolescent bariatric surgery as an American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. It is the first accredited ASMBS center for adolescent bariatric surgery in St. Louis, and will offer bariatric surgery to qualifying patients 15 and older.
Accreditation by the ASMBS means that the surgical program meets the committee’s “best practice updates for pediatric/adolescent weight loss surgery.” The goal of adolescent bariatric surgery is prevention of early obesity and related mortality and morbidity from conditions that can accompanying obesity such as diabetes mellitus, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease. Among team members of an ASMBS-accredited weight loss center for adolescents are experienced bariatric surgeons, a pediatric specialist, registered dietitian, and mental health specialist. Review of long-term outcomes of adolescent bariatric surgery is a criteria that must also be met.
J. Chris Eagon, MD, and Shaina Eckhouse, MD, perform gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy for adolescents in the Washington University Weight Loss Surgery Program.
