At the Neurogastroenterology and Motility Disorders Center at Nationwide Children’s, we evaluate and treat children with complex digestive motility disorders. Our team uses advanced testing to understand how the digestive tract moves, contracts, relaxes and responds to sensation. These results help guide care, which may include specialized therapies, procedures or other treatments based on each child’s needs.
Anorectal manometry is used to test for the normal relaxation of the muscles which help to control bowel movements.
Antroduodenal manometry is used to study how the stomach and the first part of the small intestine are working.
Colonic manometry is a type of test used to study how the colon is working.
EndoFLIP, which stands for “endoluminal functional lumen imaging probe,” is a special tool that helps doctors understand how well a part of the child’s digestive tract opens, closes and stretches.
Esophageal manometry studies esophagus function in awake children using a nasal catheter to record muscle contractions during swallows with and without water.
Gastric emptying scintigraphy (GES) is a special imaging test used to see how well your child’s stomach empties food into the small intestine.
Hydrogen breath testing is used to evaluate several different GI problems including intolerance of various sugars and overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine.
An impedance/pH probe test – also called esophageal impedance-pH monitoring – is a test that measures both acid and non-acid reflux in your child’s esophagus.
Due to the thin skin on and around the ear, an external auricular neurostimulator can provide gentle and short-term (outpatient) electrical stimulation to nerves believed to be involved in pain sensation. It is approved for use in patients with IBS and may hold promise for other pain-related GI conditions as well.
Botox injection is one of several advanced treatments we may use for children with motility or nerve/sensation problems. When standard treatments are not enough, carefully placed Botox injections can sometimes help by relaxing muscles that are too tight at key “valves” in the digestive tract.
Esophageal dilation (balloon dilation) is a minimally invasive procedure that widens a tight area in the esophagus — the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach. This stretches the tissue so food and liquids pass more easily.
Gastric pacemaker is an advanced therapy to treat patients with gastroparesis when other standard treatments have not worked.
A percutaneous cecostomy is a medical procedure used to help children who have trouble with severe constipation or difficulty controlling bowel movements.
Peroral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) is a procedure used to treat children who have trouble eating, swallowing or keeping down food. It treats swallowing disorders caused by muscle spasms in the esophagus or when the muscles at the bottom of the esophagus do not relax when the child eats.
During an outpatient visit, a small machine provides gentle stimulation through a precisely placed needle to the posterior tibial nerve, which feeds into the sacral nerve and may help treat pediatric defecation disorders.
Sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) is an advanced treatment for children with severe bowel or bladder problems that have not improved with standard care. It uses a small device, similar to a pacemaker, to send gentle electrical signals to the sacral nerves in the lower back.
