Morbid obesity leads to restrictive as well as obstructive ventilatory defects via mechanisms that include mechanical, as well as inflammatory factors. We hypothesise that multiple breath nitrogen washout will be more sensitive to changes in small airway function than conventional lung function testing.
We will invite adolescents with morbid obesity, scheduled to undergo bariatric surgery at SCMCI during 2016-2018, for pulmonary function testing, including spirometry, plethysmography, nitrogen multiple breath washout, lung transfer factor and 6 minute walk. These tests will be conducted prior to the operation as well as during follow-up appointments at 3, 6 and 12 months. We will also evaluate oxidative stress using highly sensitive C-reactive protein as surrogate marker.
