Children and babies need a specialist paediatric surgeon

Consultant Paediatric Surgeon Niall Jones explains how minimal access surgery, such as the laparoscopic procedures he describes is now accepted as the best and safest way to operate on babies and children.The types of condition that babies and small children most commonly require surgery for includes the following:

Inguinal hernia - Both boys and girls often present with groin swellings known as inguinal hernias.

Undescended testicle - Again, this is quite a common occurrence in babies.  When the testicle is easily palpated, but is not in the scrotum, then a routine ‘orchidopexy’ can be performed,

Acute appendicitis - This is the most common reason for emergency surgery in children.

Gallbladder stones - These are not as common in children as in adults and tend to be associated with blood disorders such as Sickle Cell disease.

Fundoplication - Children occasionally have very severe vomiting (gastro-oesophageal reflux), which causes chest infections and failure to thrive.

Consultant Paediatric Surgeon Niall Jones explains how minimal access surgery, such as the laparoscopic procedures he describes is now accepted as the best and safest way to operate on babies and children.  This special group of patients has their whole lives ahead of them and there is no longer any need for them to have to live with the scars of ‘open’ operations performed in their childhood.

Inflammation of the appendix, a small tube attached to the large intestine. Full medical glossary
The organ that stores urine. Full medical glossary
A fluid that transports oxygen and other substances through the body, made up of blood cells suspended in a liquid. Full medical glossary
A viral infection affecting the respiratory system. Full medical glossary
When part of an organ pushes through the wall of the body cavity that normally holds it. Hernias can develop in many different parts of the body. Full medical glossary
Invasion by organisms that may be harmful, for example bacteria or parasites. Full medical glossary
Relating to the area around the groin. Full medical glossary
A keyhole surgical procedure. Full medical glossary
An operation to bring a testicle down into the scrotum. Full medical glossary
Medical examination by the hands and fingertips. Full medical glossary
Backflow of a bodily fluid in the wrong direction Full medical glossary
The sac that contains the testes. Full medical glossary
One of two male sex organs, also calles testes, that produce sperm and the hormone testosterone. Full medical glossary
Expusion of the contents of the stomach through the mouth. Full medical glossary