Patient Stories

Our pediatric general surgeons treat hundreds of children every year. Read more about surgical techniques they have used to save children's lives.

Minimally Invasive Approach Used to Remove Liver Cyst from Tiny Infant
A large growth called a choledochal cyst threatened baby Anushka's liver and bile duct function. Donald Liu, MD, PhD, used an advanced minimally invasive technique to remove the cyst and reconstruct her bile duct -- all done through very small incisions.

Baby's Abdominal Defect Successfully Treated with Surgery
Four months into Abigail Galecki's pregnancy, University of Chicago doctors diagnosed her unborn child with gastroschisis--a serious abdominal defect in which the organs flow freely throughout the body from a hole in the abdominal wall. Immediately after the baby's birth, our experts in pediatric general surgery went to work repairing the complex condition.

Novel Technique Used to Remove Tumor in Infant's Liver
Just months after her birth, infant Chloe Lobins had surgery to remove part of her liver due to hepatoblastoma, a type of liver cancer. Little Chloe is believed to be the smallest infant ever to undergo a massive liver resection for a primary liver cancer.

Complex Surgery Gives Baby a Chance at Life

A routine ultrasound during a prenatal check-up revealed a large bulky mass on the neck of Shenella Parker's unborn child. Parker was referred to the University of Chicago Maternal-Fetal Center where a multidisciplinary team of obstetricians, pediatric surgeons and others performed a complex surgery to remove the tumor and ensure that the baby could breathe. Some parts of the intricate procedure were performed while the baby was partly in utero -- still receiving blood and oxygen through her mother's umbilical cord.

Intestinal Malrotation is Often Misdiagnosed
Two-month-old Jaylen seemed to vomit after every feeding. An ultrasound test showed that the boy had intestinal malrotation, a condition where the bowels do not form and twist properly, which can cut off blood flow to the intestine and can lead to intestinal blockages. Pediatric surgeon Donald Liu, MD, PhD, used a minimally invasive procedure to correct the problem, and Jaylen was able to go home quickly.

Ligament Surgery Restores Ability to Eat
Two young women experienced excruciating pain whenever they ate, but were misdiagnosed or assumed to have an eating disorder. A team of University of Chicago physicians uncovered the true cause of their problem -- median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS), a structural disorder of the blood vessels that supply the digestive tract. Delicate surgery done through a few tiny incisions restored their ability to eat and left them with barely visible scars.