The Rutgers Health Pediatric Aerodigestive program provides services to patients who have complex disorders of the upper airway and gastrointestinal tract. The program collaborates with Rutgers Health physicians with experience in pulmonary medicine, otolaryngology (ENT), and gastroenterology.

Following initial consultations, physicians from all three disciplines review a patient’s condition and set a course for diagnosis and treatment. The advantage to this approach is that if multiple endoscopies (visual examinations of the body’s interior with an endoscope) are necessary, doctors can perform each one in succession following a single administration of anesthesia.

The program treats many disorders of the upper airway and gastrointestinal tract, including:

• Aspiration involving choking when eating
• Bronchopulmonary dysplasia
• CHARGE syndrome: the acronym CHARGE represents a rare genetic syndrome that contains elements of coloboma, heart defect, atresia choanae, restricted growth and development, genital abnormality, and ear abnormality
• Congenital esophageal disorders with airway or breathing problems such as a tracheal esophageal fistula
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Noisy breathing
• Persistent wheezing
• Pharyngeal cleft
• Subglottic and tracheal stenosis
• Tracheomalacia
• Tracheostomy dependence
• Vocal cord paralysis

Physicians who serve our program are on the faculty of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, a part of Rutgers University, one of the top research institutions in America. Our doctors are active in research and in teaching about all aspects of pediatric medicine and disorders of the upper airway and gastrointestinal tract. Each brings leading-edge knowledge from the classroom to the exam room.

If you are the parent of a child who may be experiencing problems with the upper airway or gastrointestinal tract, please make an appointment with the Rutgers Health Pediatric Aerodigestive program today.