Laparoscopic gastric diverticulectomy in a 13-year-old girl

Symptomatic gastric diverticula are rare, mainly occurring in patients between 20 and 60 years of age. In adults, laparoscopic resection seems to be an attractive alternative to conventional surgery, although some authors experienced problems in identifying the diverticulum intraoperatively. We present a case of a gastric diverticulum in a 13-year-old girl and emphasize the difficulties in establishing the diagnosis. Once other gastrointestinal disorders were excluded, a laparoscopy was performed and the diverticulum resected successfully with an endoscopic linear stapler device. This is the first report on laparoscopic resection of a gastric diverticulum in a child. More experience is mandatory to confirm the safety and long-term success of a minimal invasive technique for this pathologic entity in pediatric patients.