Hirschsprung's Disease

He has only just arrived — and already something is backing up. The belly bloats, nothing moves forward, the bowel that should flow is standing still. Hirschsprung's disease is a congenital anomaly: in one segment of the large intestine, the nerve cells are absent that would normally steer the wavelike motion by which the bowel transports its contents onward. Without these impulses, the affected segment contracts — it becomes a bottleneck, a blockage. Everything backs up behind it. The belly grows large, the bowel widens, but nothing passes through.

Medically, this is well understood. There are surgical procedures that remove the affected intestinal segment and allow children to lead a largely normal life. The physical side has answers.