SUMMARY
The interests of D. Dean Potter Jr., M.D., center on pediatric patients with surgical issues.
A baby who is born without a normal esophagus requires specialized surgery. Dr. Potter's group is improving the techniques used to complete the esophageal repair. They hope to reduce complications and length of hospital stay for these patients. His team has developed a medical device to aid in connecting the esophagus. Work is ongoing to improve the effectiveness of this device.
Hirschsprung disease affects the colons of newborn babies. Long-term outcomes for this condition can vary. Dr. Potter's team is studying the types of cell channels that are abnormal in these patients.
Focus areas
- Pectus excavatum. Dr. Potter is improving outcomes for patients with pectus excavatum. These include ways to reduce pain in the postoperative setting and eliminate bar complications due to displacement.
- J-pouch surgery. Dr. Potter is developing new devices to create intestinal and ileal pouch-anal anastomoses.
- Hirschsprung disease. Dr. Potter collaborates with basic science researchers to improve the diagnoses and outcomes for patients with Hirschsprung disease.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Potter's group has described and developed a new method to secure the bar that is inserted to surgically correct pectus excavatum in a patient. After surgery, these bars typically will move in about 5% of patients. However, Dr. Potter has eliminated bar movement using this novel technique. Next, his team hopes to reduce the restrictions put on these patients after surgery.
Using a novel mouse model, Dr. Potter and his colleagues have compiled new information in Hirschsprung disease. Their study compared the mouse-model findings to bowel samples removed from people with Hirschsprung disease. His team is using the new data to pinpoint which patients might require additional attention after surgery for Hirschsprung disease.