Introduction

Benign and malignant tumors of the gastrointestinal tract are rare and come from a variety of cellular origins. Overall, the surgical management of these tumors is complete resection. This is most often accomplished via laparotomy due to the low rate of preoperative diagnostic certainty.

The lack of rigorous study on this topic is perhaps indicative of its rarity. Nevertheless, a typical pediatric surgeon will likely encounter a handful of cases over the course of a career. In these circumstances, it is important to be aware of the principle tenants of their management.

In this topic, these tumors will be described to the extent they are known. Finally, Barrett esophagus will be discussed as a malignant precursor lesion given the frequency of gastroesophageal reflux in the pediatric population.

see also Mesenteric and Omental Cysts and Intestinal Polyps

content in this topic is referenced in SCORE Gastrointestinal Tumors overview