Sybil Storz Lecture

Part of Lectures, Courses and Honors 15 items

Document · May 2026 · 3 min read

In brief

Dr. Rothenberg shares career lessons from pioneering minimally invasive pediatric surgery, emphasizing curiosity, collaboration, and innovation. He traces his journey from muscle-sparing thoracotomy to developing thoracoscopic techniques for esophageal atresia repair, advocating for appropriately-sized instruments and knowledge-sharing while maintaining work-life balance.

Embrace serendipity and collaboration—seek mentors smarter than you and build partnerships that drive innovation forward.
Minimize surgical trauma: muscle-sparing thoracotomy and thoracoscopic approaches reduce morbidity and improve pediatric outcomes.
Persist through rejection—the first thoracoscopic TEF series was rejected by APSA but became foundational work in pediatric MIS.
Design instruments proportionate to neonatal anatomy—avoid oversized tools that increase tissue trauma in small patients.
Share knowledge globally through teaching, mentorship, and multicenter collaboration to advance the field beyond your own practice.

Written by the GCMD Library team from the document.

Dr. Steve Rothenberg

Surgical content by Dr. Steve Rothenberg — Lectures & Presentations

Full text

The importance, the responsibility, and the joy of being a Pediatric Surgeon;Lessons I learned along the way!Steven RothenbergRocky Mountain Children’s Denver, Colorado

Better to be Lucky than GoodEven Better to be BothTake advantage of your opportunities (I was going to be a urologist!) Lesson 1

Pediatric Surgery Residents Conferernce: Boston 1988

MrRaymond Donnelly 1989-1990

Won the premier league in 1989-90

Berlin wall Fell

Be Curious •Exposed to a diﬀerent health care system•Exposed to a diﬀerent set of resources : 1 CT scan in Liverpool•Exposed to diﬀerent pre, intra, and post-op management (Thoracic cases couldn’t go to ICU, no arterial lines, no central lines)•Exposed to Ash cash!•Exposed to European Football Lesson 2

Texas Children’s 1990-1992 : Be very lucky!

Muscle Sparing Thoracotomy: Presented at the AAP Surgical Section 1991J Pediatr Surg 1992 Aug;27(8):1157-9; discussion 1159-60.Experience with a total muscle-sparing approach for thoracotomies in neonates, infants, and childrenS S Rothenberg,W J PokornyAbstractWe have adopted a total muscle-sparing technique for thoracotomies in infants and children. The technique preserves the latissimus dorsi and serratus anterior muscles and provides excellent exposure for most thoracic and mediastinal operations. Thirty-two such procedures have been performed with only one complication, a small wound seroma. Use of this technique may not only decrease postoperative pain and splinting, but may decrease the incidence of scoliosis and muscle dysfunction found in children having undergone thoracotomies as infants.

Seek out those smarter and better than you: Learn to collaborate!Lesson 3

First Lap Chole TCH 1991

Ask Ques(ons? Lesson 4

Ask Questions?

Look for answers•Keep them simple when you can•Are they universal•Honestly evaluate your solutions•Truly accomplish something before you declare victory•Avoid the temptation of social media Lesson 5: Look for straight forward solutions

Retractor Placement: Elevating Liver To Expose Hiatus Keep it simple stupid

Keys to success AttitudeMotivationCommitment (Dog with a bone!)AbilityFind the right people to collaborate with!Know what you want to accomplish (Or a least have some idea) Lesson 5

Keys to success AttitudeMotivationCommitmentAbilityKnow what you want to accomplish (Or a least have some idea)(Eliminate thoracotomies) Lesson 5

Your journey may not always take you where you thought you were goingBe ready for some adversity

Kilimanjaro 2006

2006

Be Curious, Not Judgmental Mark Davenport Lesson 6 Walt Whitman (And Ted Lasso)

First Thoracoscopic Esophageal Atresia RepairIPEG Berlin 1999 Ped EndosurgInnovative Tech. (3); 141-148, 1999 Lesson 7: Be open to new ideas and possibilities.

First Thoracoscopic TEF Repair 2000 3.2 kg male, isolated anomaly/IPEG AtlantaPed Endosurg Innov Tech. (4) 289-294. 2000

2000 First TEF Repair

Be Curious, Not JudgmentalLesson 6 •First series was turned down for presentation at APSA•Accepted for publication by Dr Grosfeld•Became involved in WOFAPS Thoracoscopic repair of tracheoesophageal fistula in newborns: Journal of Pediatric Surgery, ISSN: 0022-3468, Vol: 37, Issue: 6, Page: 869-872 2002

Try hard not to use an instrument larger than the patientLesson 8

Try hard not to use an instrument larger than the patient

•Weekly design meetings•Need survey with other surgeons (IPEG 2010)•Animal test labs 2009 Started an instrument company (Highly recommend not doing this!)

No Instrument bigger than the patient!

IRCAD 2006 Lesson 9: Share your knowledge whenever you can

And find time for the reallyImportant things

Teach and Share

Make incredible friends along the way Lesson 10

Lesson 11: Don’t loose sight of your other passions

Lesson 12 Challenge yourself: To get something you never had you have to do something you never did 3200 miles: 189,000 feet of climbing

China:2013

2025

DenverNew YorkTelAvivMilan Collaborate

Madrid 2004

2023 Jan;58(1):27-33. jjpedsurg.2022.09.015.2022 Sep 24.Thoracoscopy versus thoracotomy for esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula: Outcomes from the Midwest Pediatric Surgery Consortiumj.jpedsurg.2021.04.013.Epub 2021 Apr 25.Thoracoscopic versus open lobectomy in infants with congenital lung malformations: A multi-institutional propensity score analysis Only 11% of 500 TEFs done thoracoscopicallyOnly 50 % of 175 CPAMs done thoracoscopically My Challenge to you!

•“A master of the art of life draws no sharp distinction between work and play. His labor and leisure, his mind and body, his education and recreation….He hardly knows which is which. •He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To him he always seems to be doing both.”

Raymond DonnellyWilliam PokornyLeland FanJack ChangKeith GeorgesonNJH PulmonologistsRMHC Surgeons, Neonatologist & PulmonologistSurgeons and Pulmonologist at CHONY , Schneider’s Children’s Hospital (Dragan Kravarusic & Enrique Freud) Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, (Ernesto Leva and team)

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