Pediatric Obesity: Anesthetic Implications and Perioperative Considerations for Weight Loss Surgery

Abstract

Obesity in children and adolescents has become a common chronic illness encountered by anesthesia providers. Pediatric obesity is associated with significant comorbidities, and providing safe anesthesia for these patients is crucial. Surgical procedures for weight loss surgery are becoming increasingly common for management of this chronic pediatric illness. Bariatric surgical procedures for obese adolescents continue to evolve, and the sleeve gastrectomy has become the favored procedure for these patients. Updated medication dosing guidelines for obese patients will be reviewed. In this article, we describe the comorbidities of pediatric obesity, discuss emerging trends in surgical weight loss techniques, review the anesthetic implications of obesity, and share postoperative pain management strategies for adolescents undergoing weight loss surgery. Finally, we share our protocol for the anesthetic management of obese children and adolescents undergoing bariatric surgery at our institution.