Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Pediatr. Sep 9, 2025; 14(3): 104096
Published online Sep 9, 2025. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v14.i3.104096
High suspicion unveils Hidden pathology of pediatric gastrointestinal surgical cases misidentified as medical: Three case reports
Rabia Shah, Dalia Belsha, Arun Thomas, Ahmad Alsweed
Rabia Shah, Dalia Belsha, Arun Thomas, Department of Pediatrics, American Hospital Dubai, Dubai 440000, Dubayy, United Arab Emirates
Ahmad Alsweed, Department of Pediatric Surgery, American Hospital Dubai, Dubai 440000, Dubayy, United Arab Emirates
Co-first authors: Rabia Shah and Dalia Belsha.
Author contributions: Shah R designed the report; Alsweed A and Belsha D collected the patients’ clinical data; Shah R and Thomas A analyzed the data and wrote the paper; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Consent was obtained from the patients’ parents, both verbally and in written form.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflicts of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Rabia Shah, Specialist Pediatrician, Department of Pediatrics, American Hospital Dubai, Umm Hurrair Residence 5, Apartment 208, Street 2, Area Umm Hurrair 1, Dubai 440000, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. dr.rabyashah12@gmail.com
Received: January 2, 2025
Revised: March 5, 2025
Accepted: April 27, 2025
Published online: September 9, 2025
Processing time: 165 Days and 20.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This case series highlights the importance of differential diagnosis in pediatric gastrointestinal cases. In this case series, 3 pediatric patients were initially misdiagnosed with cow’s milk protein allergy, leading to a delay in timely and appropriate surgical interventions. A thorough evaluation and a high suspicion for alternative diagnoses, including Hirschsprung’s disease, intestinal malrotation, and achalasia, are crucial for improving patient outcomes for children.