Any patient that presents with complications from a Meckel's diverticulum we will recommend surgery to remove the Meckel's diverticulum. Surgery is typically recommended during the hospital stay that brought your child to the hospital.

Your child will have an IV (intravenous tube) put into a vein in your child's hand or foot. The IV will give your child fluid and if they are having bleeding may be used to give blood. These fluids will keep your child from getting dehydrated and keep your child safe. A doctor or nurse may put a tube, called a nasogastric or NG tube, down your child's nose and into the stomach. This tube will drain the stomach and may prevent vomiting. The drainage may be clear, brown, yellow or green. IV antibiotics may be given to reduce the risk of infection after surgery.

Your child will need to have general anesthesia for the surgery. Your child will be given medicine to make them comfortable and forget about most things during the surgery. Surgery is done either by a laparoscopic (with the camera) or open approach. The laparoscopic way involves making three to four small (<1cm) incisions, or cuts, in the belly area. We can place a camera and small tools to identify the Meckel's diverticulum into those incisions. In some patients, the laparoscopic surgery may not be possible and your surgeon may recommend an open surgery. This is a surgery that needs a larger incision. During the surgery the surgeon will remove the Meckel's diverticulum and sometimes a very short part of the adjacent intestine.