Pediatric Surgery - Everything You Should Be Aware Of!

Pediatric surgeries are group of surgeries involving foetuses, infants and young kids. Surgeries are especially focused on treating pre-existing or new conditions that arise or may arise in a child’s life time. Unlike surgeries that are carried out on adults, Pediatric surgeries are a lot more complicated and need much more expertise. This is because of a number of reasons, including, tiny body parts to operate on, much lesser developed body’s defense mechanism, etc.

Pediatric surgeons, like any other surgeon, run a thorough diagnostic test before they proceed with surgery.

Here are some of the common pediatric surgeries:

Congenital Surgeries

These surgeries are carried out when the baby is still inside the womb and if any complications arise inside the womb, the surgeon takes action to resolve the issue. Although congenital surgeries aren’t uncommon, they are still very tricky with normally an increased risk factor.

Surgery for Acquired Conditions

These are the conditions that develop in children after they are born. Acquired health problems are common and they are easier to treat than congenital ones. Other kinds of surgeries are:

Appendicitis

When an appendix gets inflamed or infected, the surgeon removes it through surgery. These days the surgery for appendix in children has developed quite steadily as there are minimally invasive methods like laparoscopy that are used. These methods ensure minimal pain and after effects.

Biliary Atresia 

This is a congenital condition, where the bile juices from the liver are unable to reach the digestion process. The patient has to go through many diagnostic tests like ultrasound, nuclear medicine scans and liver biopsy, so that the surgeon can determine the blockages and the effects of the bile ducts. Then the surgeon performs the surgery where the bile ducts and the liver pathways are reconstructed.

Congenital Cystic Adenomatoid Malformation 

This is also a congenital condition, where lung tissue that is very essential in the breathing process isn’t formed correctly. Instead of the right kind of tissue, a defected one is formed. Doctors monitor their mothers during their pregnancies as this surgery is quite delicate, and after the baby is born, the surgeons perform surgery to remove this abnormal tissue.

Hirschsprung’s Disease

This disease is caused by abnormal reflexes in the neural system and causes abnormal bowel movements in the child’s body. That is why the surgeon performs long surgery to scoop out the enlarged part of the colon
and restore the bowel movements.

Pectus Carinatum 

This congenital condition is often mentioned as the “bowed chest” as abnormal growth is seen between the child’s ribs and the breast bone. The method of treating this surgery is quite complicated, which is why surgeons often use chest braces to push both the bones away.

Conclusion

Although most of the common pediatric surgeries are mentioned here, there are many other pediatric surgeries a surgeon has to perform. In any case, a good and experienced pediatric surgeon should be consulted for any such condition, owing to the inherent complexities involved in such surgeries.