Quicker recovery time is of the biggest advantages of minimally invasive surgery for children and one of a long list of benefits this surgical technique offers patients at Levine Children’s Hospital. From newborns to adolescents, “the vast majority of pediatric surgeries we perform are minimally invasive,” says Robert Attorri, MD, a pediatric surgeon at Levine Children’s Hospital.
“It’s the same surgery, but just done in a less invasive fashion,” says Graham Cosper, MD, a pediatric surgeon at the hospital. When surgeons perform minimally invasive surgery, they create one or more small incisions instead of one large incision—as is done with traditional “open” surgery—with the goal of minimizing infection and other complications.
Procedures are typically performed using special surgical tools and video equipment that help the surgeon see inside the child’s body. In comparison to traditional surgery, this translates to less:
-blood loss
-postoperative pain
-recovery time
-scarring
-time in the hospital
-tissue injury
Performing pediatric surgery requires a high level of expertise, and when parents choose Levine Children’s Hospital, they can expect just that in the region’s most established and well-rounded pediatric surgery program. Looking ahead, physicians at Levine Children’s Hospital will continue to refine minimally invasive techniques for proven uses. “We’re always looking at what we can do, how we can do it and the advantages compared to the open technique,” says pediatric surgeon Andrew Schulman, MD.
A baby boy named Zaylen is one such patient who benefited from a minimally invasive procedure. During an ultrasound, physicians found that Zaylen had a 3-centimeter cyst on his right lung, which had to be surgically removed. Click here to read about Zaylen’s amazing recovery.
