INTERVIEWS
Chief of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Carlo Di Lorenzo, MD “Our faculty has visited Arab countries and I have personally participated in clinical activities in Dubai. We routinely discuss patients and provide consultations with several of our colleagues in South America and Europe”
N
ationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the largest pediatric hospitals and research institutes in the United States. It is consistently ranked as one of America’s top 10 children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, the recognized authority in United States hospital rankings. Carlo Di Lorenzo, MD, is chief of the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and is widely regarded as one of the world’s top experts in diagnosing and treating functional neurogastrointestinal and motility disorders in children. "Hospitals" magazine recently interviewed Dr. Di Lorenzo about his work at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
What are some uncommon or particularly challenging conditions treated in the motility center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital? The Motility Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital evaluates and treats children and adolescents with any type of motility or functional gastrointestinal disorder. Some of the most challenging diseases for which the Motility Center has developed unique and innovative expertise include: Pediatric intestinal pseudo-obstruction (PIPO): This is a condition in which the gastrointestinal tract has such poor motility that the child is often not able to eat by mouth and needs tube feeding or parenteral nutrition. Testing in our center helps determine what areas of the intestine are affected by the disease, if there is a nerve or a muscle disease, and how to direct medical and surgical treatment.
JULY.AUG 2021
86
PATIENTS FROM 12 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HAVE BEEN REFERRED TO OUR CENTER AND HAVE BEEN EVALUATED BY OUR TEAM.
Gastroparesis: Children with gastroparesis often have severe nausea, vomiting and early satiety. Our Motility Center offers innovative treatments for this condition such as gastric electrical stimulation, injection of botulinum toxin and pylorus and pyloric dilatation Rumination syndrome: This is a disorder which is being recognized with increased frequency in children of any age. The Motility Center offers the only multidisciplinary treatment to this condition in both the outpatient and in-hospital setting Post-surgical defecation disorders: Patients who have had surgery for Hirschsprung disease or anorectal malformations often continue to struggle with symptoms even after surgery. The Motility Center is part of the Center for Colorectal and Pelvic Reconstruction and collaborates with several other specialists to diagnose and treat, with innovative technologies, the anatomical or physiological problems that are responsible for the child’s symptoms.
