Caustic esophageal stricture is a major cause of pediatric dysphagia requiring repeated dilation. We assessed whether adjunctive topical mitomycin C (MMC) improves dysphagia resolution and reduces dilation sessions in children. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL (inception through May 17, 2026) for randomized controlled trials comparing dilation plus topical MMC with dilation alone in children with caustic esophageal stricture. Risk of bias was assessed with RoB 2 and certainty with GRADE. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed; the single eligible adult RCT was reported narratively. Three pediatric RCTs (221 patients; 110 MMC, 111 control) were pooled. MMC was associated with higher odds of dysphagia resolution (OR 7.82; 95
In public hospitals in low and middle-income countries, imaging services are typically unavailable outside daytime hours, delaying ultrasound access in paediatric emergencies. Implementation models for procedural point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in resource limited paediatric surgical units remain scarce. We describe the implementation of a pragmatic POCUS training programme in a Bolivian paediatric surgical unit. Retrospective report of a case series (March 2020 – March 2024) following PROCESS 2020 guidelines. Primary outcome: operational feasibility, defined as the ability of the paediatric surgical team to perform ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction without concurrent sonographer presence. Secondary outcome: reduction success rate. Three paediatric surgeons and one surgical resident participated in approximately 24 supervised sessions over a two-month period. Twenty-five patients underwent ultrasound-guided hydrostatic reduction; from the third case onward, hydrostatic reduction procedures were performed without concurrent sonographer presence, including during periods without scheduled imaging coverage; 20 (80.0
Enteric neural crest-derived cell (ENCC) transplantation is a potential regenerative strategy for Hirschsprung disease (HSCR), but approaches to enhance transplanted ENCC extension remain limited. We investigated whether human amniotic fluid stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (hAFSC-EVs) enhance ENCC extension in aganglionic gut. Neurospheres (NS) generated from embryonic day 18.5 (E18.5) Sox10-Venus+ ENCCs were transplanted into aganglionic gut from E12.5 Ednrb knockout mice and cultured with (EV+, n = 4) or without (EV−, n = 4) 1
Data on long-term follow-up after tracheostomy in patients with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) are limited. We assessed current tracheostomy status and clinical characteristics in relation to decannulation during long-term follow-up. In this multicenter retrospective study, we analyzed the Japanese CDH Study Group database records from 2006 to 2023. Clinical characteristics of patients undergoing tracheostomy during hospitalization were reviewed. Using long-term follow-up data, decannulation status was assessed and decannulation rates were estimated via Kaplan–Meier analysis. We included 1284 patients, 38 of whom underwent tracheostomy during hospitalization. Compared with the non-tracheostomy group, the tracheostomy group had higher rates of severe cardiac anomalies (21
To evaluate whether time from birth to arrival at a tertiary extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)-capable center is independently associated with ECMO utilization among outborn neonates with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). We hypothesized that longer transfer intervals would be associated with greater ECMO utilization after adjustment for disease severity and anatomic characteristics. We performed a retrospective cohort study of outborn neonates with CDH transferred to a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit with ECMO capability. Transfer interval was analyzed using multivariable logistic regression adjusting for CDHSG postnatal score and anatomic characteristics. Among 46 neonates, 21 (45.7
