Intestinal Transplant Second Opinions
Intestinal/liver care clinic visits and second-opinion appointments are available urgently for the timely care of your child. Depending on your child’s current condition and the medical records available to us, their first appointment could involve an initial outpatient consultation or an inpatient admission for a full intestinal transplant evaluation.
Our team begins coordinating the second-opinion appointment as soon as they receive the child’s medical record. After the comprehensive evaluation, our team will share their treatment recommendations with you and answer any questions you have.
Second opinions are an opportunity to have another group of highly trained specialists meet with your family, review your child’s records and offer thoughts on how to proceed. Even if our team’s recommendation is the same as the referring provider’s, a second opinion can help give you more confidence moving forward.
Patients often come to our center for a second opinion after being told that an intestinal transplant is the only remaining option in their child’s care. At Cincinnati Children’s, we are often able to offer medical and/or non-transplant surgical therapies through our partners at the Cincinnati Center of Excellence in Intestinal Rehabilitation. Intestinal rehabilitation at Cincinnati Children’s is an important consideration in our holistic approach to improve a child’s health and quality of life without transplant when able.
If a transplant is judged to be the best option for your child, Cincinnati Children’s Intestinal Transplant is home to a multidisciplinary team of experts, including national leaders in the field of pediatric intestinal transplant. Our team will be with you every step of the way as we work toward the best possible outcomes throughout the pre- and post-transplant process.
How Do I Get a Second Opinion?
- Ask your primary care provider for a referral – One of your child’s providers can start the second opinion process by calling Physician Priority Link® at 1-888-636-7997 and asking for the pediatric hepatology attending physician on call.
- Call our referral coordinators at 513-636-4955 – The program coordinator team will forward you to our pre-transplant/referral nurse coordinators. If you call after hours, leave a message. The nurse coordinator will return your call as soon as possible.
- Fill out our online form – In the “Requesting” field, choose “Requesting a second opinion.” One of our nurse coordinators will follow up with you soon.
Second-opinion visits always happen in person at Cincinnati Children’s. For patients requiring a full intestinal transplant evaluation, those visits are coordinated as an inpatient admission. If your child is hospitalized at another hospital, our team will help to arrange a safe transfer to our center.
What Can I Expect Before the Second-Opinion Visit?
One of our program coordinators will contact you before your visit. They will be your point person and will continue to provide support if you choose to transfer care to Cincinnati Children’s. They will:
- Talk with you before the appointment to get general information about the diagnosis and answer any questions you have about the scheduling and second-opinion process.
- Gather copies of records and imaging from your current center, including your medical records, scans, pathology, other test results and information about previous treatments.
- Schedule appointments with each team member.
- Schedule any tests needed during your visit.
What Can I Expect During the Second-Opinion Appointment?
During the second- opinion visit, you will meet with a multidisciplinary team of specialists. The team will talk with you about your child’s diagnosis, test results and medical history and answer your questions. These specialists include:
- Pediatric transplant hepatologist
- Pediatric transplant surgeon
- Infectious disease doctor
- Transplant nurse coordinator
- Transplant pharmacist
- Dietitian
- Social worker
- Financial specialist
- Additional specialists, depending on your child’s specific needs
At the end of the evaluation process, members of the team will meet with your family to discuss their findings. They will make treatment recommendations, including whether your child should be placed on the transplant waiting list.
How Should I Prepare?
Please bring your child’s current medications, insurance card(s), custody paperwork and power of attorney documents, if applicable.
Write down your questions so you don’t forget them once you’re here. We want you to get the most out of your visit and have the best experience possible. Coming in prepared will help us provide that for you.
