Gastroenterology and GI Surgery

New Pediatric Aerodigestive Center opened

As the first and only center of its kind in inland Northern California, the Pediatric Aerodigestive Center provides a specialized multidisciplinary team approach including pediatric gastroenterologists, pediatric surgeons and pediatric otolaryngologists for children with complex airway, pulmonary, upper digestive tract, sleep and feeding disorders. The center will improve coordination of care, reduce patients’ number of procedures, imaging and anesthesia exposures, and allow more convenient appointments.

Largest population-based study

Shinjiro Hirose, M.D., Payam Saadai, M.D., and division researchers published the largest population-based study summarizing current epidemiology of gastroschisis in California. The retrospective comparative cohort study “Epidemiology of gastro-schisis: a population-based study in California from 1995–2012” appears in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery.

Pediatric Colorectal Center

Payam Saadai, M.D., and collaborators participated in several articles, case studies and presentations about pediatric GI and colorectal conditions at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress and other national meetings. Saadai also organized the REACH (Research Education and Awareness for Children with Hirschsprung Disease) annual meeting.

“I wish we would have come to UC Davis Children’s Hospital sooner. Samantha’s quality of life has improved dramatically, and we can better function as a family.” – Misty Rickards, on daughter Samantha’s acupuncture treatment for chronic abdominal pain and nausea, overseen by pediatric gastroenterologist Arthur de Lorimier.