Kristy Lynn Rialon, M.D.

Associate Professor of Surgery

Positions

Associate Professor of Surgery: Division of Pediatric Surgery
Baylor College of Medicine

Assistant Program Director, Resident Evaluation and Mentorship: General Surgery Residency
Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery

Education

Fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children: Toronto, ON, Canada

Residency at Duke University: Durham, United States

BA from Rice University: Houston, United States

MD from Harvard Medical School: Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Certifications

American Board of Surgery

General Surgery, Pediatric Surgery

Honors & Awards

2021 Women of Excellence: Baylor College of Medicine

2023 Early Career Award for Excellence in Patient Care: Baylor College of Medicine

2023 TCH Excellence in Surgery Award

2023 Norton Rose Fulbright Faculty Excellence Award - Teaching and Evaluation

2016 Hilary Sanfey Outstanding Resident Award: Association of Women Surgeons

2016 Resident Educator Award: Duke University General Surgery Interest Group

2014 Alpha Omega Alpha: Duke University School of Medicine

2012 Ralph Snyderman, MD, Graduate Medical Education Research Award: Duke University Medical School

2010 W. Glenn Young, Jr. Award for Outstanding Junior Resident: Duke General Surgery Residency Training Program

Professional Interests

Vascular Anomalies
Colorectal Surgery
Graduate Medical Education

Professional Statement

Dr. Kristy Rialon is a board-certified pediatric surgeon that provides care in all aspects of neonatal and pediatric surgery. She spent four years in Houston as a student at Rice University, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in biochemistry while working in the lab of Nobel Laureate Richard Smalley. Her interest in pediatric surgery began as a student at Harvard Medical School. She completed her general surgery training at Duke University Hospital, and then a pediatric surgery fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, where she trained with Dr. Jacob Langer, a pioneer in the treatment of Hirschsprung disease. During her residency, she was awarded a competitive research grant (F32) from the National Institutes of Health to study pancreatic cancer. She also subsequently completed a clinical research fellowship in Vascular Anomalies at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Rialon is thrilled and grateful to be a part of the Pediatric Surgery Department at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. She believes that family involvement is critical to the success of children’s postoperative care, and enjoys working with multidisciplinary teams to improve patient care and outcomes. Her clinical and research interests are in congenital colorectal disease (anorectal malformations, cloacal malformations, cloacal exstrophy, Hirschsprung disease, colonic dysmotiliy) and vascular anomalies (hemangioma, lymphatic malformations, venous malformation, combined vascular malformations, complicated lymphatic diseases).

She is heavily involved in the education of students and trainees, serving as the Embryology Thread Director, Site Director for the pediatric surgery rotation at TCH, Department Lead Elective Officer for the Department of Surgery, Assistant Program Director for the general surgery program at BCM, and the Associate Program Director for the pediatric surgery fellowship at TCH. She has previously served on the Surgery Review Committee and the Board of Directors at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Websites

Division of Pediatric Surgery

Vascular Anomalies Center

Colorectal and Pelvic Health Program

Selected Publications

Rialon KL, Englum BR, Gulack BC, Bhattacharya SD, Talbot LJ, Guevara CJ, Shapiro ML, Adibe OO, Scarborough JE, Rice HE. " Comparative effectiveness of treatment strategies for severe splenic trauma in the pediatric population. " Am J Surg. ;
Ceppa EP, Burbridge RA, Rialon KL, Omotosho PA, Emick D, Jowell PS, Branch MS, Pappas TN. " Endoscopic vs. surgical ampullectomy: an algorithm to treat disease of the ampulla of Vater. " Ann Surg. ;
Rialon KL, Gulack BC, Englum BR, Routh J, Rice HE. " Factors impacting survival in children with renal cell carcinoma. " J Pediatr Surg. ;
Rialon KL, Murillo R, Fevurly RD, Kulungowski AM, Zurakowski D, Liang M, Kozakewich HPW, Alomari AI, Fishman SJ. " Impact of screening for hepatic hemangiomas in patients with multiple cutaneous infantile hemangiomas. " Pediatr Dermatol. ;
Ray P, Rialon-Guevara KL, Veras E, Sullenger BA, White RR. " In vitro aptamer selection strategy using secretomes for pancreatic cancer biomarker discovery. " J Clin Invest. ;
Rialon KL, Crowley E, Seemann NM, Fahy AS, Muise A, Langer JC. " Long-term outcomes for children with very early-onset colitis: implications for surgical management. " J Peds Surg. ;
Turkbey B, Kobayashi H, Hoyt RF, Choyke PL, Nakajima T, Griffiths GL, Bernardo M, Rialon K, Fishman SJ, Sena LM. " Magnetic resonance lymphography of the thoracic duct after interstial injection of gadofosveset trisodium: a pilot dosing study in a porcine model. " Lymphat Res Biol. ;
Rialon KL, Murillo R, Fevurly RD, Kulungowski AM, Christison-Lagay ER, Zurakowski D, Kozakewich HPW, Alomari AI, Fishman SJ. " Risk factors for mortality in patients with multifocal and diffuse hepatic hemangiomas. " J Pediatr Surg. ;
Luks VL, Kamitaki N, Vivero MP, Rab R, Bovee JVMG, Uller W, Rialon KL et al. " Somatic mutations in a catalytic subunit of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PIK3CA) cause a spectrum of malformative vascular disorders with overgrowth. " J Pediatr. ;
Guevara CJ, Rialon KL, Ramaswamy R, Kim SK, Darcy MC. " Ultrasound guided, direct puncture retrograde thoracic duct access, lymphangiography and embolization: feasibility and efficacy. " J Vasc Interv Radiol. ;