Two-hour surgery. Four tiny
incisions. One happy Lydia.
Unable to swallow food, and barely
water for that matter, 14-year-old
Lydia Morrison was diagnosed with
esophageal achalasia. So serious was
her condition that Lydia lost more
than 20 percent of her body mass.
In desperate need of a complicated
surgery to alleviate her life-altering
ailment, her parents immediately
turned to the surgeons at UW Health
and the American Family Children's
Ho s p i t a l i n Ma d i s o n , Wiscon sin .
A specialist in pediatric laparoscopic
surgical techniques, Dr. Daniel Ostlie
p er f o r med a mi n i ma l l y in vasive
procedure using a tiny camera and
instruments inserted through
incisions measuring less than 5mm in
length. This technique allows patients
to spend less time in the hospital and
heal faster, with barely noticeable
scarring afterward. In fact, Lydia
spent just one day in the hospital and
left with four small Band-Aids over her
incisions. Best of all, she was back to
playing soccer in no time. Remarkable.
August 2009
© 2013 University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority. CH-38021-13
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