Colorectal and Pelvic Reconstruction: Why Nationwide Children’s?

It has always been my dream to take all aspects of a patient’s care that involves problems in the pelvic area — including problems with the colon, urologic system, gynecologic system and the gastrointestinal system — and create a team that coordinates well and collaborates to provide the care that these patients need.  Thus was born the Center for Colorectal and Pelvic Reconstruction (CCPR) here at Nationwide Children’s. But why should you care?

Colorectal and Pelvic Health Problems Are Common

As many as one in every 5,000 babies are born with anorectal malformations, also known as imperforate anus, and another one in 5,000 are born with Hirschsprung disease (also known as megacolon). Children across the country face other issues, such as certain motility disorders and inflammatory bowel diseases that may require surgical intervention. And other children struggle with fecal incontinence that does not respond to standard therapies.

All of these conditions fall under the umbrella of the new center. On a daily basis, children and families will come from around the world to get the integrated, multi-disciplinary care offered in this new center, including experts from colorectal surgery, gastroenterology, urology and gynecology. And on a daily basis, these caregivers will interact in collaborative care meetings, in the clinic setting and in the operating room.

Coordinated, Collaborative Care Matters

If your child needs colorectal or pelvic reconstruction services, he or she deserves caregivers and administrative staff who know each other and operate as a well-oiled machine in their quest to solve a patient’s colorectal or pelvic problem, and that is our goal.

Here, a patient’s family will begin with one touch point but activate the entire team of appropriate health care providers. Some patients need one of the sections, many need two and some need three or four of the specialties working together. But with one visit to Nationwide Children’s, all the necessary radiology appointments and consultations can take place over two or three days. Since many of our patients come from far away, we use this organized and efficient approach to help make the experience convenient for families.

As a final plus, this center offers unique opportunities for collecting data on outcomes and improving results so that our collaborations with the scientific minds at Nationwide Children’s will help us make discoveries that hopefully one day will eliminate colorectal and pelvic problems altogether.

Click here for more information on the Center for Colorectal and Pelvic Reconstruction.