The very idea of surgery sends shivers down the spine of any individual, thinking of the pain, immobility, diet restriction, injections, dressings, hospitalisation, with leave from work come first to mind. And when a parent of a small child then things turn worse, he is so weak, docile, and small, can’t even bear a mild cough, cold, fever, he is so immature to take the stress of surgery.

Require surgery

Obviously no one would be keen to go on an operation table unless there is no other way out but sadly a lot of cases need to get operated. In children too there are some fatal conditions which leave the parents with no choice but to bear the bitter truth and let their child undergo surgery for his / her own good.  The conditions include congenital malformations (diaphragmatic hernia, trachea oesophageal fistula, hydrocephalus, hydrocele, cleft lips, hydronephrosis etc) which need to be corrected there and then to make the child free from the odd.

Timings of surgery

No surgery in case of children is optional; it is the relative urgency and the nature of the disease that decide on the decision to undergo the knives.   A hydrocele may wait till the next school vacations, but torsion of testes has to be dealt with as soon as it is seen almost within hours.

Indiscriminate waiting defies the very need for which an operation is done - an undescended testis is a classical case point the sooner it is done the better are the future fertility chances. Don’t wait for the testes to come down any massaging or waiting doesn’t really help the testis surgery decision.     

Risks involved

Surgery is not a one man’s show; it takes a dedicated team of specialists to have a sick child convalesce as soon as possible. Today the techniques are quite safe and effective but then too there is no minor or no such thing as a normal operation any operation however small has as much complications as a big one. Risks do remain and could even be fatal. Not that they occur every time, and statistically may be in fractions, but yes, they do exist. Never hide any information from the doctor that may even remotely have a bearing on the outcome, and y small detail can ruin things and a doctor must be aware of everything relevant about the child to be operated.

Always remember

• Surgery is a part of the treatment of a disease process, not an optional concept. Like any other method of treatment, proper case selection and timing is the essence to a successful result.
• Today advances in medicine permit safe and successful outcomes even in high risk cases very small or very sick or premature babies.
• Management of babies is a team approach the family doctor, the paediatrician, the surgeon and the nursing staff. Paediatrics itself is a speciality best handled by people who are used to doing it.
• As far as possible make sure that your child is handled in experienced hands only
• Always take record of everything, never throw away the reports and tests etc. The issue may have resolved but should be preserved for any reference in future.