Precision minimally invasive strategy for Hirschsprung’s disease: from anatomical resection to whole-cycle functional management—a review

Description

Zheng and co-authors review a shift in how Hirschsprung's disease, a congenital absence of gut nerve cells, should be managed. Their 2026 paper surveys precision minimally invasive surgery, which now removes the affected bowel segment accurately and safely. Yet children often live with defecation dysfunction afterwards, and the authors argue the operation alone is being mistaken for the whole treatment.

The review draws on five major databases without date limits. It assembles the current minimally invasive strategies and the care around them. That care includes risk stratification, bowel management, biofeedback training, and follow-up across childhood. The proposed framework is whole-cycle functional management, organising care from diagnosis through long-term function rather than around the resection alone. The authors describe a paradigm shift from anatomical correction to function-oriented management across the disease trajectory, aimed at quality of life rather than surgical success alone.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13470105