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David E. Skarda

David E. Skarda, MD, MBA

Languages spoken: English, Spanish

Clinical Locations

Primary Children's Hospital

Pediatric Surgery
801-662-2950

Rock Canyon Pediatric Specialists

Pediatric Surgery
801-357-1700

St. Vincent Healthcare

SCL Health Medical Group - Fortin Pediatric Specialty Clinic
406-237-5300
  • David E. Skarda, M.D. has specialized training and experience in minimally invasive surgical treatment for babies, children and teenagers. He is a board-certified pediatric surgeon and attending physician in the Division of Pediatric Surgery at Primary Children’s Hospital and Utah Valley Hospital. His passion is providing leading edge compassionate surgical care promptly and he ensures that you understand the procedures, options, risks and benefits. He is currently seeing new patients in his clinic at Utah Valley Hospital as well as in the Emergency Department, Newborn ICU, PICU, and general patient care units at Primary Children’s Hospital.

    He speaks Spanish.

    He is happy to talk to you and/or your child’s doctor.

    Dr. Skarda specializes in the following conditions:

    • inguinal hernia
    • umbilical hernia

    • undescended testicle

    • hydrocele

    • cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder)

    • G Tube (placement of a stomach tube)

    • appendectomy (removal of the appendix)

    • vascular access (ports and central lines)

    • ulcerative colitis

    • Crohn’s disease

    • gastroesophageal reflux disease

    • chest wall deformities (pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum)

    • pediatric endocrine surgery (thyroid and adrenal tumors/pancreas surgery)

    Board Certification

    American Board of Surgery (Sub: General Surgery)
    American Board of Surgery (Sub: Pediatric Surgery)
  • David E. Skarda, M.D. has specialized training and experience in minimally invasive surgical treatment for babies, children and teenagers. He is a board-certified pediatric surgeon and attending physician in the Division of Pediatric Surgery at Primary Children’s Hospital and Utah Valley Hospital. His passion is providing leading edge compassionate surgical care promptly and he ensures that you understand the procedures, options, risks and benefits. He is currently seeing new patients in his clinic at Utah Valley Hospital as well as in the Emergency Department, Newborn ICU, PICU, and general patient care units at Primary Children’s Hospital.

    He speaks Spanish.

    He is happy to talk to you and/or your child’s doctor.

    Dr. Skarda specializes in the following conditions:

    • inguinal hernia
    • umbilical hernia

    • undescended testicle

    • hydrocele

    • cholecystectomy (removal of the gallbladder)

    • G Tube (placement of a stomach tube)

    • appendectomy (removal of the appendix)

    • vascular access (ports and central lines)

    • ulcerative colitis

    • Crohn’s disease

    • gastroesophageal reflux disease

    • chest wall deformities (pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum)

    • pediatric endocrine surgery (thyroid and adrenal tumors/pancreas surgery)

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Surgery -Primary
    Pediatrics -Adjunct
    Academic Divisions Pediatric Surgery
    Board Certification
    American Board of Surgery (Sub: General Surgery)
    American Board of Surgery (Sub: Pediatric Surgery)

    Education history

    Diploma University of Utah MBA
    Pediatric Surgery - The Ohio State University - Nationwide Children's Hospital Fellow
    Fellowship Minimally Invasive Surgery/Bariatric Surgery - University of Minnesota Fellow
    Surgical Infectious Disease - University of Minnesota Fellow
    Research Fellow Surgical Critical Care, basic science and clinical research, Greg Beilman MD, grant from ONR - University of Minnesota Research Fellow
    General Surgery - University of Minnesota Medical Center Resident
    Professional Medical Medicine - Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva M.D.
    Molecular Biology/Chemistry - Brigham Young University B.S.

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Sullivan GA, Reiter AJ, Smith C, Glick RD, Skarda DE, Le HD, Gow KW, Rich BS, Raval MV, American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Surgery Delivery of Surgical Care Committee (2023). Pediatric Surgeon Perceptions on Operating Room Environmental Stewardship and Current Institutional Climate-Smart Actions. J Pediatr Surg.
    2. Skarda DE, Danko ME, Glick RD, Guner YS, Le HD, Rich BS, Robertson DJ, Short SS, Weiss RG, Van Arendonk KJ, Raval MV, Delivery of Surgical Care Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Surgery (2023). Dollars and Sense: The Business of Pediatric Surgery. J Surg Res, 285, 220-228.
    3. Iantorno SE, Skarda DE, Bucher BT (2023). Concurrent SARS-COV-19 and acute appendicitis: Management and outcomes across United States children's hospitals. Surgery, 173(4), 936-943.
    4. Ryan S, Dudley NC, Schunk JE, Weng C, Skarda DE, Glissmeyer EW (2023). Reduced Computed Tomography for Appendicitis in Children after Implementation of Next-day Surgery Clinic Follow-up. Pediatr Qual Saf, 8(2), e641.
    5. Iantorno SE, Short SS, Skarda DE, Rollins MD, Bucher BT (2023). Decreased incidence of Hirschsprung-associated enterocolitis during COVID-19 across United States Children's hospitals. J Pediatr Surg.
    6. Iantorno SE, Ulugia JG, Kastenberg ZJ, Skarda DE, Bucher BT (2022). Postdischarge Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pediatric Appendicitis: A Mediation Analysis. J Surg Res, 282, 174-182.
    7. Kiser AC, Eilbeck K, Ferraro JP, Skarda DE, Samore MH, Bucher B (2022). Standard Vocabularies to Improve Machine Learning Model Transferability With Electronic Health Record Data: Retrospective Cohort Study Using Health Care-Associated Infection. JMIR Med Inform, 10(8), e39057.
    8. Blakely ML, Tyson JE, Lally KP, Hintz SR, Eggleston B, Stevenson DK, Besner GE, Das A, Ohls RK, Truog WE, Nelin LD, Poindexter BB, Pedroza C, Walsh MC, Stoll BJ, Geller R, Kennedy KA, Dimmitt RA, Carlo WA, Cotten CM, Laptook AR, Van Meurs KP, Calkins KL, Sokol GM, Sanchez PJ, Wyckoff MH, Patel RM, Frantz ID 3rd, Shankaran S, DAngio CT, Yoder BA, Bell EF, Watterberg KL, Martin CA, Harmon CM, Rice H, Kurkchubasche AG, Sylvester K, Dunn JCY, Markel TA, Diesen DL, Bhatia AM, Flake A, Chwals WJ, Brown R, Bass KD, St Peter SD, Shanti CM, Pegoli W Jr, Skarda D, Shilyansky J, Lemon DG, Mosquera RA, Peralta-Carcelen M, Goldstein RF, Vohr BR, Purdy IB, Hines AC, Maitre NL, Heyne RJ, DeMauro SB, McGowan EC, Yolton K, Kilbride HW, Natarajan G, Yost K, Winter S, Colaizy TT, Laughon MM, Lakshminrusimha S, Higgins RD, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health Human Development Neonatal Research Network (2022). Initial Laparotomy Versus Peritoneal Drainage in Extremely Low Birthweight Infants With Surgical Necrotizing Enterocolitis or Isolated Intestinal Perforation: A Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial. Ann Surg, 274(4), e370-e380.
    9. Shi J, Hurdle JF, Johnson SA, Ferraro JP, Skarda DE, Finlayson SRG, Samore MH, Bucher BT (2021). Natural language processing for the surveillance of postoperative venous thromboembolism. Surgery, 170(4), 1175-1182.
    10. Glissmeyer EW, Ryan S, Dudley NC, Schunk JE, Nielsen J, Weng C, Skarda DE (2020). An Administrative Data-based Surrogate Definition Identifies Children Evaluated Beyond Physical Examination for Suspected Appendicitis. Pediatr Qual Saf, 5(6), e343.
    11. Bucher BT, Shi J, Ferraro JP, Skarda DE, Samore MH, Hurdle JF, Gundlapalli AV, Chapman WW, Finlayson SRG (2020). Portable Automated Surveillance of Surgical Site Infections Using Natural Language Processing: Development and Validation. Ann Surg, 272(4), 629-636.
    12. Pruitt LCC, Casazza GC, Newberry CI, Cardon R, Ramirez A, Krakovitz PR, Meier JD, Skarda DE (2019). Opioid Prescribing and Use in Ambulatory Otolaryngology. Laryngoscope, 130(8), 1913-1921.
    13. Pruitt LCC, Skarda DE, Barnhart DC, Bucher BT (2020). Impact of consolidation of cases on post-operative outcomes for index pediatric surgery cases. J Pediatr Surg, 55(6), 1048-1052.
    14. Pruitt LCC, Swords DS, Vijayakumar S, Ostlund B, Prochazka J, Richards NG, Bucher BT, Skarda DE (2019). Implementation of a Quality Improvement Initiative to Decrease Opioid Prescribing in General Surgery. J Surg Res, 247, 514-523.
    15. Newberry CI, Casazza GC, Pruitt LC, Meier JD, Skarda DE, Alt JA (2019). Prescription patterns and opioid usage in sinonasal surgery. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol, 10(3), 381-387.
    16. Pruitt LCC, Skarda DE, Rollins MD, Bucher BT (2019). Hirschsprung-associated enterocolitis in children treated at US children's hospitals. J Pediatr Surg, 55(3), 535-540.
    17. Pruitt LCC, Swords DS, Russell KW, Rollins MD, Skarda DE (2019). Prescription vs. consumption: Opioid overprescription to children after common surgical procedures. J Pediatr Surg, 54(11), 2195-2199.
    18. Berman L, Ottosen M, Renaud E, Hsi-Dickie B, Fecteau A, Skarda D, Goldin A, Rangel S, Tsao K, APSA Quality and Safety Committee (2019). Preventing patient harm via adverse event review: An APSA survey regarding the role of morbidity and mortality (M&M) conference. J Pediatr Surg, 54(9), 1872-1877.
    19. Swords DS, Skarda DE, Sause WT, Gawlick U, Cannon GM, Lewis MA, Scaife CL, Gygi JA, Tae Kim H (2019). Surgeon-Level Variation in Utilization of Local Staging and Neoadjuvant Therapy for Stage II-III Rectal Adenocarcinoma. J Gastrointest Surg, 23(4), 659-669.
    20. Roybal J, Tsao K, Rangel S, Ottosen M, Skarda D, Berman L (2018). Surgical Safety Checklists in Children's Surgery: Surgeons' Attitudes and Review of the Literature. Pediatr Qual Saf, 3(5), e108.
    21. Berman L, Rangel S, Goldin A, Skarda D, Ottosen M, Bliss D, Valusek P, Fallat M, Tsao K, APSA Quality and Safety Committee (2017). Safety culture among pediatric surgeons: A national survey of attitudes and perceptions of patient safety. J Pediatr Surg, 53(3), 381-395.
    22. Skarda DE, Rollins M, Andrews S, McFadden M, Barnhart D, Meyers R, Scaife E (2015). One hospital, one appendectomy: The cost effectiveness of a standardized doctor's preference card. J Pediatr Surg, 50(6), 919-22.
    23. Skarda D, Henricksen JW, Rollins M (2012). Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation promotes survival in children with trauma related respiratory failure. Pediatr Surg Int, 28(7), 711-4.
    24. George ME, Rueth NM, Skarda DE, Chipman JG, Quickel RR, Beilman GJ (2009). Hyperbaric oxygen does not improve outcome in patients with necrotizing soft tissue infection. Surg Infect (Larchmt), 10(1), 21-8.
    25. Mulier KE, Skarda DE, Taylor JH, Myers DE, McGraw MK, Gallea BL, Beilman GJ (2008). Near-infrared spectroscopy in patients with severe sepsis: correlation with invasive hemodynamic measurements. Surg Infect (Larchmt), 9(5), 515-9.
    26. Skarda DE, Mulier KE, George ME, Bellman GJ (2008). Eight hours of hypotensive versus normotensive resuscitation in a porcine model of controlled hemorrhagic shock. Acad Emerg Med, 15(9), 845-52.
    27. George ME, Skarda DE, Watts CR, Pham HD, Beilman GJ (2008). Aggressive red blood cell transfusion: no association with improved outcomes for victims of isolated traumatic brain injury. Neurocrit Care, 8(3), 337-43.