If the term “pediatric laparoscopy”
appeared in a children’s dictionary, those words
would best define the advanced surgical procedure.
In
fact, Monmouth Medical Center pediatric surgeon Saad A. Saad, M.D., finds that
explaining surgery to children in a way they can understand has become easier
since smaller, more “kid-friendly” instruments have entered the operating
room.
As a result, children are happy to hear that the
incision will usually be no more than 1/16th of an inch long, and that they can
expect to return to being just kids in no time.
“Monmouth
is equipped with the sophisticated instrumentation needed to perform laparoscopic
surgery on children ranging in age from one week to 17 years old, and weighing
as little as four pounds,” says Dr. Saad, who has served as chief of Pediatric
Surgery at Monmouth for 13 years and is one of only seven surgeons in New Jersey
board certified in both general surgery and pediatric surgery.
The
hundreds of minimally invasive procedures that have been performed at Monmouth
during the past several years run the gamut — from common appendectomies
and hernia repairs (see story below) to the more complex procedures, including
treatment of pyloric stenosis — narrowing of the opening between the stomach
and intestine — and Hirschsprung’s disease, a severe congenital condition
of the colon that appears soon after birth.
Repair of
the weakness between the food pipe and the stomach (fundoplication) and the insertion
of feeding tubes into the stomach (gastrostomy) also are performed through the
small-incision surgery.
“With minimally invasive
techniques, we can perform very complicated procedures with very few exceptions,”
says Dr. Saad. “Nothing makes me happier than to see smiles return to the
faces of my young patients. That’s the most-rewarding part of this profession.”
For
more information on pediatric laparoscopic surgery, call Monmouth Medical Center
at 732-870-5500.
