Generalizations about Pediatric Surgery

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The body tissues of infants and children are delicate, and must be handled gently, and as little as is necessary to perform the operation.

A child's scar will be there for a lifetime. Almost all pediatric surgical incisions are placed in the child's natural skin lines, and are closed with a plastic surgical technique using fine absorbable stitches just underneath the skin. The expected result is a hairline scar, barely visible when it has finally faded to normal skin color.

Children feel pain, but postoperative pain can be minimized. The injection of a long-acting local anesthetic into the area around the operation relieves the immediate sharp pain of surgery, and can be supplemented afterward with oral or injectable pain medicine.

Some children are especially frightened by the hospital and operating room experience. With those old enough to understand - usually over one year of age - a parent or reassuring family member is encouraged to accompany the child into the operating room and to be with the child until he or she is asleep. Sometimes even a reassuring parent cannot calm an upset child; there are mild sedatives that can be given prior to surgery to ease the child's anxiety.

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