A 2022 update of this very important review was published.

The authors' conclusions are:

Laparoscopic gastric banding led to greater body weight loss compared to a multi‐component lifestyle program in one small study with 50 participants. These results have very limited application, primarily due to more recent recommendations derived from observation studies to avoid the use of banding in youth due to long‐term reoperation rates. This systematic review update still highlights the lack of RCTs in this field. The authors are concerned that there may be ethical barriers to RTCs in this field, despite the lack of other effective therapies for severe obesity in children and adolescents and the significant morbidity and premature mortality caused by childhood obesity. Nevertheless, future studies, whether pre‐registered and planned non‐randomised or pragmatic randomised trials, should assess the impact of the surgical procedure and post‐operative care to minimise adverse events, including the need for post‐operative adjustments and revisional surgery. Long‐term follow‐up is also critical to comprehensively assess the impact of surgery as participants enter adulthood.

Read the full review at The Cochrane Library here.