Parents are often apprehensive about their little ones tolerating surgery and anesthesia, and therefore postpone seeking advice. It ought to be reassuring that many elective operations in children are now done as ‘Daycare surgeries’ where the child is admitted and discharged on the same day.

“Daycare surgeries have the advantage that they allow the child to recover in the familiar and comforting environment of their own home, rather than stay in the unfamiliar and often scary hospital environment. When a surgical condition has been identified in a child, a pediatric surgical specialist is called to address the issues related to the condition. These conditions include, children born with various types of birth defects such as imperforate anus, cleft lip, hypospadias etc., serious injury pertaining to infants and new born, Infants and children born with abnormalities and other common surgical conditions”, said Dr. Anurag Krishna, Director, Pediatrics & Pediatric Surgery, Max Smart Super Specialty Hospital, Saket.

It is unwise to consider infants and children as miniature adults. Their diseases are different, the natural progression of the diseases is different and surgical planning should always be done with a long term perspective in mind. Pediatric surgeons are trained for this purpose. Usually all operations in children, however short and simple, require that child is put under general or complete anesthesia. Refinements in anesthesia techniques have made this quite safe in children of all ages, including newborn babies.

“Over the years outcomes after surgical procedures in newborn babies and infants have vastly improved. While the skill, experience and seniority of the surgeon plays an important role, the major contribution to outcomes is by an equally competent and dedicated team of newborn and pediatric intensive care specialists, anesthetists specially trained to care for babies, nurse specialists and operating room technicians. The best surgical care is provided at institutions that have all these components led by the pediatric surgeon with the entire array of pediatric sub-specialists under one roof”, said Dr. Anurag Krishna.

It is incumbent on all those who care for these sick children to provide them with an ambience that is pleasant and soothing and is responsive to their needs. Children are wonderful patients. They hardly complain, they are easily satisfied and they bounce back from serious illness with a vigor that is unimaginable. We owe it to them to give them the best tender loving care and get them right the first time.

Pediatric surgical services include the following sub-specialties:

• Neonatal surgery or surgery in newborn babies – essentially for birth defects like an  abnormal food pipe, diaphragmatic hernia, imperforate anus etc.
• Pediatric urology – that deals with abnormalities of the kidney, urinary bladder or genitalia. These include conditions like hydronephrosis, VUR, urethral valves, disorders of sex differentiation and hypospadias
• Pediatric thoracic surgery – that includes surgery for abnormalities of the lung
• Pediatric plastic surgery – for surgical treatment of cleft lip and palate, burns etc.
• Pediatric GI surgery – for surgery of the food pipe, intestines, liver and gall bladder
• Pediatric cancer surgery – for solid organ cancers in children and adolescents
• Pediatric endoscopic surgery – bronchoscopy for inhaled  foreign body removal and cystoscopy for urological conditions
• Minimal invasive (Laparoscopic and Robotic) surgery