William Ladd's Procedure for Malrotation and Volvulus: Convincing the World

For one considered “the father of pediatric surgery,” William Ladd (1880–1967) has few eponymous procedures and terms that bear his name. The Ladd procedure is a series of procedures to address malrotation of the intestine and midgut volvulus. Also bearing his name are Ladd's bands, obstructing adhesions that cross the duodenum as they bind the nonrotated cecum high in the right upper quadrant to the retroperitoneum. Other surgeons before him, however, recognized each element of the Ladd procedure: the urgency of untwisting the intestine, the necessity of dividing obstructing Ladd's bands, and separating the duodenum and colon to prevent retwisting.