Minimally Invasive Surgery Performed at Loma Linda Univeristy Children's Hospital

What is being billed as the first minimally invasive surgery to repair a small intestinal bowel has been performed on a newborn infant, according to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.

Loma Linda Hospital Pediatric surgeon, Edward P. Tagge, MD and Loma Linda University’s first pediatric surgery fellow, Shannon Longshore, MD, recently performed the first surgery, hospital officials said Monday.

The infant, named Jayla, had was is known as Duodenal atresia a condition diagnosed prenatally, according to a hospital news release. It means that the small bowel is not completely developed causing a blockage between the stomach and small bowel. This blockage does not allow for the passage of stomach contents, and if gone untreated, it can be fatal, officials said.

The blockage is typically repaired surgically by making a large incision across the abdomen, which leads to scarring and elongated healing.

But the recent surgery was done laparoscopically through three small abdominal incisions, roughly three millimeters each, causing minimal scarring and even less pain, according to the news release.

“This complicated operation is one that takes advanced laparoscopic skills and a well-coordinated surgical, anesthesia and nursing team,” said Dr. Tagge through a written statement. “This is the newest operation in the growing field of minimally invasive procedures that can be performed by pediatric surgeons at LLUCH.”

Ana Garcia and Benjamin Molina said they found out just two days before their daughter, Jayla, was born that she had duodenal atresia after a routine ultrasound.

“We were very scared and worried for our daughter but everyone at the hospital made us feel at ease,” Garcia said through the news release.

Jayla was just three days old when doctors Tagge and Longshore repaired the blockage by sewing the two pieces of bowel together using a suture at the end of a foot-long needle visualized by laparoscopic camera, hospital officials said.

During the procedure, the doctors discovered Jayla also had malrotation---a twisting of the intestines caused by abnormal development---which required laparoscopic repair as well as an appendectomy, officials said..

According to the news release, two-moth-old, Jayla is a happy, healthy and eating and sleeping perfectly. At their most recent check-up, Jayla’s parents were glowing, “She’s perfect.”

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