Hepatology
Growing children have unique needs. At Phoenix Children’s, we’re equipped to meet those needs. Our advanced training and expertise allow us to offer the full spectrum of specialized care for liver diseases.
Depending on your child’s condition, the providers you and your child may meet include:
- Pediatric hepatologists, who are gastroenterologists with further education and expertise in treating conditions of the liver in children
- Pediatric nurses, who coordinate your child’s care and evaluation
- Nutritionists, who help your child make healthy changes to their eating habits
The services we provide include:
- Liver masses and tumors resected and cysts removed by our team of dedicated hepatobiliary surgeons
- Interventional Radiology procedures such as liver biopsies, angiographies, and biliary stents and drains
- Advanced endoscopy, including endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancrieatography (ERCP), (endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) and sclerotherapy
- All-inclusive nutritional support of enteral and parenteral feeding, including specialized feeding
For your child’s care, we’ll coordinate support from a complete range of pediatric subspecialists who can help your child: metabolic liver disease experts, nephrologists, neurologists, cardiologists, endocrinologists, oncologists, radiologists, pharmacists, infection disease specialists, palliative care, anesthetists and pathologists. If your child is at risk for acute liver failure, we’ll coordinate their care with a highly skilled surgeon in our Liver Transplant program.
The Kasai Procedure
The Kasai Procedure is a surgery to treat or correct biliary atresia in infants. In biliary atresia, bile ducts that are inside or outside the liver are blocked. When the bile is unable to leave the liver through the bile ducts, the liver becomes damaged and important body functions are affected.
The Kasai Procedure creates an artificial portal to help the liver drain into the intestines as it should with normal function. The procedure helps by allowing a child to grow and remain in fairly good health for a number of years.
Related Services
- Liver Transplant program – Personalized care, all in one place.
- Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD) Clinic – Customized care from physicians with obesity certification, pediatric nutritionists, child psychologists and nurses to promote lifestyle modifications and state-of-the-art medical management
- Gastroenterology – Advanced diagnostic and treatment options for the full range of intestinal-related conditions
- The Emily Center – Access to personalized health information and clear, reliable answers to questions about your child’s condition