Pediatric Surgery

We care about your child’s healthy growth and development as if they were one of our own. All providers at Ochsner Children’s Hospital have specialized training that uniquely prepares us to care for kid. We collaborate with children, their parents and their healthcare team to recommend the most appropriate care.

Ochsner has the region’s largest team of pediatric healthcare subspecialists. We can introduce your child to the right physicians and healthcare providers at any point in your journey. Our pediatric physicians and subspecialists work together to consider every aspect of your child’s health.

Surgery isn’t always the answer. Whether your child needs a minimally invasive surgery, a complicated surgical procedure or no surgery at all, we’ll explain everything to you in clear terms that you can understand.

Children come to Ochsner for a range of care and treatment. We offer routine surgeries and the most complex ones. Most of our surgeries are done with a minimally invasive approach. We offer a full scope of surgical care for children, including:

• Abdominal surgery
• Thoracic (chest) surgery
• Colorectal surgery
• Gynecological surgery in preadolescent females
• Urological surgery
• Head and neck surgery
• Corrective and reconstructive procedures for congenital (at-birth) anomalies
• Surgery for solid tumors
• Minimally invasive procedures

Areas of special interest

• Congenital diaphragmatic hernia: CDH is an abnormal opening in the diaphragm that allows abdominal organs (the stomach, intestines, spleen, part of the liver and sometimes a kidney) to move into the chest.
• Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: ECMO uses a special machine to take over the job of pumping oxygen into the blood and removing carbon dioxide. Ochsner's ECMO program was the fourth created in the nation and the first in the American Southeast.

"Dr. (Ryan) Farmer has given us hope and strength. He is not just a doctor, he's been a friend." -- Richelle P., pediatric orthopedic surgery patient's mother

The American Board of Surgery defines pediatric surgery as an operative, diagnostic or postoperative procedure on an infant, child or teen for any condition, whether it is one that was present at birth or one that was acquired over time as the result of trauma.

Between 5% and 7% of full-term, healthy babies (mainly boys) will have an inguinal hernia that requires surgical repair at some point during childhood. While that percentage may seem like a small number, inguinal hernia repair is one of the surgeries we perform most often. Umbilical hernias that don’t close on their own by age 5 are also common surgeries. We routinely perform laparoscopic appendectomies for acute appendicitis. Laparoscopy is a minimally invasive approach which uses very small incisions, a small camera and small surgical instruments.

Pediatric anesthesiologists at Ochsner focus on keeping your child comfortable during their surgery or other procedure. Our pediatric anesthesiologists have extra training that allows them to judge how to keep your child safe while minimizing the pain they experience. We understand that the thought of your child needing anesthesia can cause anxiety in parents and caretakers. Our anesthesiologists make every effort to know your child’s entire health history before they make decisions about how to prepare them for procedures. You can be an active part of your child’s care by knowing and sharing health histories and medicine regimens.