About the Department of Pediatric Surgery
The Department of Pediatric Surgery at SoulPlace Surgery Hospital is home to a diversely skilled group of pediatric surgeons. We perform surgery to treat a range of childhood conditions, from those that occur more commonly such as appendicitis and hernias, to rare conditions that require more complex surgical procedures. We care for children of all ages – from newborns to young adults.
As one of the hospitals in the region offering services for children, we are devoted to providing a safer, brighter, more stress-free experience for them. From specially designed surgical instruments to the artwork in our recovery rooms, everything we do in our hospital is done with children in mind
Surgery designed for children
Many parents think that when their child needs an operation like an appendectomy, it’s fine to bring them to a general hospital because it is a common procedure. The more cases we do, however, and the more research we conduct, the more we realize that children benefit from treatment that is specially tailored to them, which is different than the care adults receive.
Our expertise goes beyond simply performing a successful procedure. We explain procedures to kids in a way they can understand and use surgical techniques that help kids heal faster. We also provide recovery rooms where parents can wait so kids have a familiar, loving face to wake up to.
Preparing for surgery: easing fear and stress
The pediatric team at Soulplace works to make the hospital experience the best it can be. They improve the healthcare experience for kids using things like therapeutic play, connection, creativity, animal-assisted therapy and gaming. To ease anxiety before surgery, our child life specialists explain what is going to happen during surgery in a way that both you and your child can understand.
Preparing for surgery: anesthesia for children
Children’s Colorado has more than 50 anesthesiologists and each one is board-certified in pediatric anesthesiology. This means all of our anesthesiologists specialize in working with babies and children and have pediatric-specific training critical to providing the best care. Our pediatric anesthesiologists perform significantly more procedures on children than any other hospital in the region, so they know how children respond to medications. Using their expertise to make anesthesia as safe as possible not only helps children feel comfortable, but it helps to put their parents’ minds at ease as well.
Using the best surgical practices
Many of the procedures that our surgeons perform are done using minimally invasive techniques. These techniques use a small camera that magnifies the image, so the surgeon can see what is happening inside the body in great detail. This allows them to make smaller incisions, which means shorter healing times, lower risk of infection and less pain and discomfort.
These minimally invasive techniques include laparoscopy (minimally invasive surgery in the abdominal cavity) and thoracoscopy (minimally invasive surgery inside the chest) and are commonly used to treat conditions like appendicitis, to perform lung biopsies and for assistance in repair or correction of pectus excavatum. Our smallest patients also benefit from these minimally invasive procedures. For babies who are born with abnormalities such as esophageal atresia, duodenal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, Hirschsprung disease, and congenital pulmonary airway malformations, we also use minimally invasive surgery. Our surgeons will help determine which surgical approach is best for your child and will discuss with you the details of the techniques that they recommend.
Support during and after surgery
A Child Life specialist acts as your child’s coach and advocate, supporting your child before, during and after their procedure, using various distraction techniques and relaxation exercises. Child Life specialists can also prepare parents and siblings to assist their family member when recovering after a medical procedure.
Depending on the procedure, parents may be allowed to be with their child right before they go into the operating room and right after the procedure when they wake up from anesthesia. After surgery, your child will receive around-the-clock care from pediatric surgeons, advanced practice providers such as nurse practitioners or physician’s assistants, and our award-winning nurses.
Why choose us for pediatric surgery care
Our focus on children goes far beyond the operating room. In addition to the clinical care we provide, our surgeons conduct research both in the laboratory as well as at the bedside. Through our research, we can take advantage of the most modern and innovative treatments that have been designed specifically for children. Our multidisciplinary approach also means that we can diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions, and we can often apply what we learn in one field to many different specialties.
Surgery Outcomes
Our department will be instituting quality improvement initiatives as this program begins. Using information collected from this database, we have reduced surgical site infections, advocated to limit radiation exposure with computed tomography (CT) scans and decreased antibiotic usage for appendicitis. Our ongoing quality improvement and consistent measuring of surgical outcomes help us ensure that we are always striving to provide the best care for children.
