What is Pediatric Surgery?

Pediatric Surgery is the branch of science that deals with diagnosis, preoperative, intra-operative and post-operative periods of diseases that require surgical intervention in children from birth to the age of 18. In the recent years, the area of interest has expanded due to congenital diseases diagnosed at early stages via US and due also to intra-uterine operations.

Pediatric surgeons start working in this specialty area after a six-year education. The human body that constantly grows and develops from birth to adolescence shows different characteristics unique to each period. Due to diseases specific to different age groups and constantly-changing nutritional requirements, methods completely different than those we are accustomed to seeing in adults are applied in diagnosis and treatment. For example, when an adult patient who cannot be fed orally does not take serum for hours, the progress of his/her disease will not be affected much, but for a child under the same conditions, even a delay of half an hour may be life threatening. Similarly, the antibiotic doses used, the method of anesthesia administered, the characteristics of surgical instruments used, and the gentle nature of the tissues of the pediatric patient are all evidences showing that pediatric surgery is a unique branch.

Which diseases can be treated by pediatric surgery?

• Congenital anomalies (esophageal atresia, anal and intestinal atresia, ectopia cordis, gastroschisis, bladder exstrophy, fused, missing or extra limbs or fingers)
• Starting from birth, shortness of breath, foaming at mouth, vomiting, constipation, fecal incontinence, urinary retention or urinary incontinence, blood in stool
• Inguinal, umbilical and abdominal hernias occurring at birth and later
• Undescended testicles
• Hydroceles or inguinal hernias
• Painful, red, swollen urinary bladder
• Hypospadias
• Phimosis
• Renal and urinary tract diseases or calculi causing recurring urinary tract infections
• Deformities of the thoracic cage or upper back
• Wry Neck
• Occasionally recurrent painful or painless swellings with discharge, goiter in the neck
• Benign tumors called hemangioma which can be seen extensively or in the form of red moles in the head, neck and any part of the body.
• Benign tumors and cancers of the childhood in organs like the liver, spleen, kidneys, suprarenal glands, stomach, bowels, bladder, which may develop with a mass
• All intra-abdominal inflammations, occurring at or after birth, including appendicitis accompanied by symptoms like abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting.
• Emergency or subsequent interventions in cases like traffic accidents inside or outside vehicles, falling down from height, weapon wounds, etc.