Information Pediatric Surgery

What is Pediatric Surgrey?

Pediatric Surgery is a very specialized & delicate branch of surgery that deals with the correction of surgical problems in children, from birth (newborn) to 18 years of age.

A majority of Children have unique surgical problems that are usually congenital (by birth). Children also have a different structure & physiology as compared to adults. So it requires special training, facilities and high competency to operate on children.

Who is a Pediatric Surgeon? How is he different from other surgeons?

A child is not a miniature adult. The concept of Pediatric surgery is well established in advanced countries and in India this is catching up very fast. Pediatric Surgeons are specially trained and dedicated surgical specialists who deal with surgical problems of children right from birth till adolescence. The problems in children vary from Congenital birth defects to acquired disorders for which specific knowledge and training is required to diagnose and do the right operation. This knowledge and training, unfortunately, cannot be imparted entirely to a general surgeon during his training. Even specialist organ surgeons like a Urologist, a Cardio Thoracic Surgeon or a Plastic Surgeon or a Neurosurgeon have to train further, specifically for children, if they intend to pursue this discipline in entire honesty.

Pediatric surgeons, on the other hand, are exposed and trained specifically to deal with all these problems in all disciplines of surgery and are hence well equipped to deal with, as an all in one solution, to a host of surgical problems in children. In some countries especially in the west, every speciality has a separate Pediatric Wing also like Pediatric Urology or Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery etc. However in India, due to a severe paucity of superspecialists and paediatric surgeons that kind of segregation of work is still a distant dream and limited to very few islands of excellence. Hence in a country like ours, Pediatric Surgeons trained from good institutes are accorded an MCh degree after they complete their rigorous training in acquiring and imbibing skills specific to children from all these disciplines of surgery. A majority of surgical problems in children can be dealt with by Pediatric Surgeons and only a small percentage of children have to be referred to advanced organ specific surgical specialists.

Nowadays with increasing technology many diseases are detected even before birth and many of them are correctable. To accurately give the right advice to the family, Pediatric Surgeons are best equipped and are involved in Antenatal counseling clinics and then take over the treatment of the babies after birth, if required. Like Pediatric Surgeons even the anaesthetists are also having advanced training in Pediatric anaesthesia and they make a good team to provide a high level of surgical care to babies and children.

Majority of the parents are anxious to know about the safety and welfare of their child if he has to undergo a surgical procedure. Although this website may help them understand broadly about some problems yet the importance of a one to one consultation in an individual case cannot be overemphasized. We have tried to explain the common surgical and paediatric urology problems that children face in a simplified way for understanding by a common person, and it should not be taken as the complete textbook of Pediatric Surgery. However you can post your specific queries, if any, and we shall be glad to answer them for your benefit.