Diseases We Treat

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital's pediatric general surgery team treats a wide variety of diseases and conditions affecting young people from fetus through adolescence involving the:

• Abdomen
• Chest
• Hernia
• Liver/Gallbladder
• Neck
• Reproductive Organs
• Skin

In addition, the pediatric general surgeons at Packard Children's offer services in:

• Bariatric Surgery for Obese Adolescents
• Birth Defects
• Cancer
• Intestinal Rehabilitation Program
• Surgery on Newborns and ECMO
• Trauma and Critical Care
• Vascular Access

Minimally invasive surgery is performed when possible to help the child's postoperative recovery. 

Abdomen Appendicitis Gastroschisis Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) Hirschsprung's disease Imperforate anus/anorectal malformation Inflammatory bowel disease Crohn's disease Ulcerative colitis Intestinal atresias Intestinal malrotation/volvulus Intussusception Necrotizing enterocolitis Omphalocele Pancreas surgery, including treatment of: Pancreatic cysts Pancreatic tumors Pancreatitis Pyloric stenosis Short bowel syndrome Spleen problems Hereditary sphirocytosis Tumors	Chest Achalasia surgery Esophageal atresia Lung surgery Pectus excavatum and carinatum Sympathectomy Thymectomy Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) Tumors
Hernia Belly button (umbilical) Diaphragmatic hernia Groin (inguinal)	Liver/Gallbladder Biliary atresia Cholecystectomy - Gallbladder removal Choledochal cyst Liver resection Hepatoblastoma
Neck Branchial clefts Cystic hygroma Lymph node tumors Lymphangioma Parathyroid Hyperparathyroidism Thyroglossal duct cysts and sinuses Thyroid	Reproductive Organs Hydrocele Ovaries Testes Tumors
Skin Lumps and bumps under the skin Dermoid cysts Lipoma Pilomatrixoma Sebaceous cysts Vascular anomalies Hemangioma Lymphatic malformation Vascular malformations

 
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Bariatric Surgery for Obese Adolescents

Adolescent bariatric surgery is a treatment option offered through Packard Children's Center for Healthy Weight.  Bariatric surgery is performed only for severely obese adolescents who have not had long-term success with all other means of weight loss and are suffering from severe complications related to their overweight. Types of bariatric surgery available include Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, gastric lap band and sleeve gastrectomy.
 
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Birth Defects

Known technically as congenital anomalies, birth defects are abnormalities that are present when a child is born. Discovering that your child has a birth defect can be a difficult, even traumatic event. Packard Children's general surgeons are specially trained in providing surgical repair of birth defects and supporting the families of affected children. In some cases, surgery is performed before the child is born, while still in the womb.

The conditions treated at Packard Children's include:

• Defects in the stomach and intestines, such as omphalocele/gastroschisis (an opening in the abdomen through which internal organs protrude) and imperforate anus (an absent or incomplete anus)
  
  
• Hernias present at birth in the groin (inguinal), navel (umbilical)and diaphragm (diaphragmatic)
  
  
• Tumors of the neck which may obstruct a baby's airway, including teratomas and lymphangiomas
  
  
• Ovarian tumors
  
  
• Urinary tract obstruction
  
  
• Certain heart disorders, which are cared for in collaboration with the hospital’s Children’s Heart Center
  
  
• Complications of twin pregnancies (monochorionic twinning)

Besides providing surgical services, Packard Children's offers genetic counselors who can help families understand the inheritance pattern behind a child’s anomaly and help determine the risks surrounding future pregnancies.
 
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Cancer

Although cancer in children is rare, the disease does occur, in forms different from what is seen in adults. Typically, childhood cancers are more responsive to therapy and have a better prognosis than the adult disease. In addition, children tolerate aggressive therapy well and generally have very good prognoses.

Our pediatric general surgeons specialize in diagnosing and removing solid-tumor cancers.  Some of the forms of cancer treated by our team are:

• Cancer that begin in nerve tissue (neuroblastoma)
• Kidney cancer (nephroblastoma or Wilms tumor)
• Cancer of the bone or muscle (rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, or osteogenic sarcoma)
• Liver cancer (hepatoblastoma)
• Cancer of the reproductive glands (germ cell tumors)
• Cancer and other diseases of the thyroid

Packard Children's general surgeons work closely with children’s cancer specialists (pediatric oncologists) and researchers at the Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases to provide comprehensive care to children with cancer.

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Intestinal Rehabilitation Program

The intestinal rehabilitation program is designed to meet the needs of children with short bowel syndrome.  These patients have inadequate bowel to meet oral nutritional needs and are dependent on nutrition through intravenous routes (TPN).
 
These children are at risk of progressing to liver failure, and ultimately may require intestinal transplant and/or liver transplant.  Dr. Sanjeev Dutta, a board-certified pediatric surgeon, works with a highly skilled group of gastroenterologists and allied health care professionals to manage children with this condition to optimize gut function and hopefully avoid or delay transplant.  This includes the use of novel surgical approaches such as the STEP (Serial Transverse Enteroplasty) procedure, which is used to lengthen and taper bowel and may improve overall bowel function and nutrient absorption.
 
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Surgery on Newborns and ECMO

Very young infants with birth defects offer unique surgical challenges.  Packard Children's general surgeons have the skills and technical capabilities to work on the difficult cases these children present.  In some cases, we perform minimally invasive procedures that are typically not applied to such small children in other children's hospitals.
 
When required, surgeons working with neonatalogists (specialists in newborn care) can support severely ill babies with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).  ECMO is a highly advanced technique that bypasses the heart and lungs and allows healing or treatment of reversible heart or lung failure.
 
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Trauma and Critical Care

As a designated Level I Trauma Center — the highest ranking for hospitals providing emergency services — Packard Children's delivers pediatric emergency care at Stanford Hospital & Clinics.  Critically injured and ill children from all over the Bay Area are sent here, because Packard Children's offers unique expertise, state-of-the-art emergency medicine, and trauma-certified surgeons.
 
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Vascular Access

Practically every hospitalized child requires intravenous (IV) therapy; unfortunately, starting the IV can be one of the child’s most painful experiences in the hospital.  A specialized team of Packard Children's pediatric general surgeons, led by Dr. Craig Albanese, and nurses have developed special tools and techniques to reduce the number of times IVs have to be started and to make the procedure as comfortable as possible.  The team can also place a special type of IV called a PICC for children requiring long-term IV therapy.

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