Development of a multidisciplinary colorectal and pelvic health program: Program implementation and clinical impact.

INTRODUCTION: Pediatric patients with complex colorectal and genitourinary conditions often require coordinated multidisciplinary care; however, this coordinated care can be hard to structure and deliver. The purpose of this paper is to review the development and implementation of a multidisciplinary colorectal and pelvic health program, one year after the program's initiation. METHODS: This is an observational retrospective 1-year study (10/1/2017 to 9/30/2018). In fiscal year (FY) 2018, a multidisciplinary colorectal and pelvic health program was initiated. The program development incorporated bimonthly team meetings, educational conferences, and initiation of three clinics: a complex colorectal and genitourinary reconstruction clinic, a bowel management clinic, and a colonic motility clinic. Conditions treated included complex anorectal and cloacal malformations, Hirschsprung disease, and idiopathic constipation. The fiscal year was selected to provide comparative administrative data after program implementation. RESULTS: During the study period, 121 patients underwent comprehensive collaborative evaluation of which 58 (47%) were new to the institution compared to 12 (19%) new patients in the previous year (p < 0.001). In FY 2018, there were 130 procedures performed and 512 collaborative visits with an average of 47 visits per month. This was a 3.4-fold increase in visits compared to FY2017 (171 visits). Of the new patients, 60% (35/58), traveled a median of 181 miles, representing 33 statewide counties, and 4 states compared to a median of 93 miles in the previous fiscal year (p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The development of a colorectal and pelvic health program is feasible and requires a collaborative approach, necessitating multiple service lines within an institution. Program creation and implementation can result in rapid institutional clinical growth by filling a local and regional need through coordinated multidisciplinary care. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: IV.

Spontaneous Gastric Perforation in Two Adolescents.

BACKGROUND Spontaneous gastric perforation is a rare clinical disorder. The majority of the available data have been reported in the neonatal age group. There are a few cases of spontaneous gastric perforation in preschool children. To our knowledge, there is no published information on spontaneous gastric perforation in older children and adolescents. CASE REPORT We describe the presentation and clinical course of two adolescent children who presented with spontaneous gastric perforation. Both children presented with acute onset abdominal pain, which progressively worsened. In both cases, the patient were taken urgently to the operating room after imaging studies had shown pneumoperitoneum. In both cases, surgery revealed gastric perforation with no obvious etiology, specifically no -ulcer, inflammation, or other pathology. CONCLUSIONS These two cases highlight the importance of including spontaneous gastric perforation, not just the typical duodenal/gastric ulcer, in the differential of a patient with severe abdominal pain and distension, who has imaging showing pneumoperitoneum.