Kanotra SP, Weiner R, Rahhal R. Making the case for multidisciplinary pediatric aerodigestive programs. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28(28): 3620-3626 [PMID: 36161050 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i28.3620]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Riad Rahhal, MD, MS, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Dr, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States. riad-rahhal@uiowa.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Pediatrics
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 28, 2022; 28(28): 3620-3626 Published online Jul 28, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i28.3620
Making the case for multidisciplinary pediatric aerodigestive programs
Sohit P Kanotra, Rebecca Weiner, Riad Rahhal
Sohit P Kanotra, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
Rebecca Weiner, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
Riad Rahhal, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States
Author contributions: Rahhal R contributed to the study conception and design, drafted the initial article and approved the final article; Weiner R and Kanotra S contributed to the study conception and design, provided critical revision of the manuscript and approved the final article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Riad Rahhal, MD, MS, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Dr, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States. riad-rahhal@uiowa.edu
Received: February 21, 2022 Peer-review started: February 21, 2022 First decision: May 9, 2022 Revised: May 23, 2022 Accepted: June 22, 2022 Article in press: June 22, 2022 Published online: July 28, 2022 Processing time: 155 Days and 11.3 Hours
Abstract
Multidisciplinary pediatric aerodigestive centers have been proposed to address the needs of children with complex multi-system problems affecting the respiratory and upper gastrointestinal tracts. The setup of a multidisciplinary service allows for the complex coordination needed between different subspecialties. This allows for rapid communication and family-centered decision making and agreement on further diagnostic and/or therapeutic next steps such as offering triple endoscopy when indicated. Triple endoscopy entails performing rigid upper airway assessment, flexible bronchoscopy and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and has been linked to reduced time to diagnosis/treatment, reduced costs and anesthesia exposure. This review summarizes the available literature on the structure and benefits of multidisciplinary pediatric aerodigestive services.
Core Tip: Multidisciplinary pediatric aerodigestive programs serve patients with multisystem problems affecting the respiratory and upper gastrointestinal tracts and require the participation and expertise of essential subspecialists including gastroenterologists. This setup allows for coordinated diagnostic and therapeutic interventions such as triple endoscopy. Benefits include reducing time to diagnosis and/or treatment, reducing healthcare costs and limiting exposure to radiation and anesthesia, providing a strong example of value-based healthcare delivery.
