Pediatric surgery (sometimes spelled paediatric surgery) is a subspecialty of surgery
involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young
adults. Many pediatric surgeons practice at children's hospitals.
Pediatric
surgeons have completed a general surgery residency (medicine), then
complete two years (or more according countries) of subspecialty fellowship training
before they are eligible to take the board examinations for official subspecialty
certification. In the United States and Canada, approximately 35 surgeons
complete training as pediatric surgeons each year. In the U.S., pediatric surgeons
are certified by the American Board of Surgery; prior board certification
in general surgery is required.
Pediatric surgery arose in the middle
of the 20th century as the surgical care of birth defects required novel techniques
and methods and became more commonly based at children's hospitals. One
of the sites of this innovation was Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Beginning
in the 1940s under the surgical leadership of C. Everett Koop, newer techniques
for endotracheal anesthesia of infants allowed surgical repair of previously
untreatable birth defects. By the late 1970s, the infant death rate from
several major congenital malformation syndromes had been reduced to near zero.
Subspecialties
of Pediatric surgery include: neo-natal surgery and fetal
surgery.
Common pediatric diseases that may require pediatric surgery
include
* congenital malformations: lymphangioma, cleft lip and palate,esophageal
atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula, hypertrophic pyloric stenosis,
intestinal atresia, necrotizing enterocolitis, meconium plugs, Hirschsprung's
disease, imperforate anus, undescended testes,...
* abdominal wall defects:
omphalocele, gastroschisis, hernias,...
* chest wall deformities:
pectus excavatum
* childhood tumors: like neuroblastoma, Wilms' tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma,
ATRT, liver tumors, teratomas |
