Paediatric surgery can be used to manage and treat various childhood conditions that require surgical intervention.
Neonatal Surgery
Paediatric surgeons can perform surgeries on ill or high-risk newborns, treating life-threatening congenital birth defects and complications of prematurity.
Paediatric Urology
Paediatric surgeons who are trained in urology are skilled in the diagnosis and treatment of urinary disorders and bladder conditions. The paediatric urological problems include:
- Bedwetting
- Urinary tract infections
- Lower urinary tract symptoms
- Neurologically affected bladders
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Hepatobiliary and Gastrointestinal Surgery
Children may develop congenital gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary tract conditions that require surgical corrections. Examples include intestinal obstruction, malrotation, Meckel’s diverticulum, and choledochal cysts. In addition, infective conditions such as acute appendicitis are more commonly seen.
Thoracic Surgery
Children may develop congenital malformations in the lung such as cystic adenomatoid malformation, bronchogenic cysts, and diaphragmatic hernia. In addition, infective and neoplastic conditions have also been encountered.
Paediatric Oncological Surgery
Children may develop benign and malignant tumours that require surgical care for the resection of the tumours.
When the tumour is malignant, the paediatric surgeon and the paediatric oncologist will diagnose a child's cancer by performing the appropriate confirmatory tests to identify the specific type of cancer. Then, subsequent tests for the purpose of "staging" is done to determine the extent of cancer – its size and where it has spread.
After confirming the diagnosis, the oncology team will provide detailed counselling to parents.
Treatments are available for all childhood cancers with a reasonably good chance of cure. The main types of treatment options available are surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, stem cell and bone marrow transplantation, targeted therapy and immunotherapy.