Button battery and magnet ingestions in the pediatric patient.

Purpose Of Review: Pediatric foreign body ingestion is a common occurrence that presents a challenge both to pediatric gastroenterologists and primary care providers. Increasing prevalence of smaller, more technologically advanced toys in the household has resulted in an increased exposure to higher voltage batteries and powerful magnets that carry a high incidence of morbidity and mortality. This review highlights the latest findings regarding the patients at risk for button battery and magnet ingestions, the symptoms of presentation, and complications of these objects in contributing to long-standing gastrointestinal injury.

Definition of reliable, objective criteria by abdominal radiography to identify occult constipation in children with lower urinary tract symptoms.

Purpose: Treating constipation in children with voiding dysfunction may improve or resolve urinary symptoms. A clinical diagnosis of constipation may not identify all patients. Abdominal radiographs (plain x-ray of the kidneys, ureters and bladder) are often used to assess constipation but no objective definition of constipation based on abdominal radiographs exists.

Are abdominal x-rays a reliable way to assess for constipation?

Purpose: Currently to our knowledge no validated reliable tools are available to evaluate constipation in children. Abdominal x-rays are often done in clinical practice to evaluate patients with lower urinary tract symptoms. Although 3 previously published rating tools exist to score constipation based on x-ray, there is little information on their merits.

Simultaneous surgical and interventional radiological approach to treat complicated biliary strictures after pediatric liver transplantation.

Post-transplantation biliary strictures occur in 5-15% of the pediatric liver transplant patients and are conventionally managed by interventional radiological techniques. Failure of this treatment leads to reoperation and sometimes to retransplantation. Herein, we describe a surgical approach and interventional radiologic approach to manage biliary strictures that failed the conventional radiologic treatment, in order to avoid retransplantation.

Conventional versus modified technique for percutaneous nephrostomy in newborns and young infants.

Percutaneous nephrostomy (PN) in newborns and young infants presents unique challenges. Twenty-six consecutive PN procedures in 18 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Fifteen procedures were performed with the conventional micropuncture technique.