Enough is enough: how many rectal suction biopsies do you need to diagnose Hirschsprung's disease?

Purpose: Rectal suction biopsy (RSB) is the gold standard for diagnosing Hirschsprung's disease (HD) in infants. Despite being a common procedure, no standard exists on the number of biopsy specimens and their respective level within the rectum.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of epidemiological and pathological data of patients who underwent RSB at our institution between January 2011 and May 2022.

Long-Term Outcomes and Health-Related Quality of Life in a Swiss Patient Group with Esophageal Atresia.

Introduction:  Surgical treatment of esophageal atresia (EA) has markedly improved, allowing the focus to shift from short-term complications and mortality to long-term complications and quality of life. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is variable and reported to range from reduced to unimpaired in patients with repaired EA. We assessed the HRQoL, determined the prevalence of long-term complications and their possible impact on the HRQoL in patients who had correction of EA in Switzerland.

Abdominal compartment syndrome and decompressive laparotomy in children: a 9-year single-center experience.

Purpose: Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) in children results in 100% mortality if left untreated. Decompressive laparotomy (DL) is the only effective treatment if conservative medical therapies have failed. This study aims to determine the incidence of ACS among pediatric patients who underwent an emergency laparotomy (EL), to describe the effect of DL on clinical and laboratory parameters and, to make a better prediction on fatal outcome, to analyze variables and their association with mortality.

Correction to: Compartment pressures in children with normal and fractured lower extremities.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the author name Sasha Job Tharakan. The corrected name is given above.

Compartment pressures in children with normal and fractured lower extremities.

Purpose: Needle manometry is a tool to confirm suspected acute compartment syndrome (ACS). There is scarce evidence of normal pressure values of the lower extremities in children. The aim of this study is to assess the normal compartment pressures in non-injured lower extremities of children.

Comparison of lower extremity fasciotomy wound closure techniques in children: vacuum-assisted closure device versus temporary synthetic skin replacement.

Purpose: No clear consensus on the optimal treatment of fasciotomy wounds due to acute compartment syndrome of the lower leg in children exists. We therefore compared two commonly used methods to close fasciotomy wounds, Epigard, a temporary synthetic skin replacement (SSR) and the vacuum-assisted closure (V.A.

Hydroxyapatite ceramic implants for cranioplasty in children: a single-center experience.

Purpose: The use of hydroxyapatite ceramic (HAC) implants for the treatment of skull defects in pediatric patients started 2010 at our institution. Ceramic implants facilitate osteoblast migration and therefore optimize osteointegration with the host bone. The purpose of this study is to report a single-center experience with this treatment modality.