Pediatric Surgery Video Library

The Pediatric Genral Surgery Department at All Children's hospital maintains a video library of numerous operative procedures that are performed.  Some are quite routine, while others are highly specialized and unique. 

Warning: These are videos of actual surgical procedures.  Given the nature of the subject matter, there are images that some viewers might find unsettling.

Laparoscopic Surgery

Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Many children and teenagers develop gallstones and need to have their gallbladders removed.  Minimally invasive surgery allows the gallbladder to be removed through 4 small incisions.
Watch Video (13.52MB Windows Media)>>

Laparoscopic Enteric Cyst Excision

In this surgery, minimally invasive techniques were used to excise a cystic duplication of the intestine (a congenital abnormality of the intestine) in a pediatric patient.
Watch Video (55.79MB Windows Media) >>

Laparoscopic Fundoplication

Some pediatric patients suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) which is a severe form of "heartburn" that can be life-threatening in some children.  Using minimally invasive techniques, surgeons are able to wrap the stomach around the esophagus to help prevent the reflux from occurring.
Watch Video (45.29MB Windows Media) >>

Laparoscopic Pediatric Inguinal Hernia Repair: Eversion Technique

There are many different approaches to the common problem of inguinal hernia in the pediatric age group.  The "Eversion Technique", shown in this video, is one of the minimally invasive methods of repair.
Watch Video (5.82MB Windows Media) >>

Laparoscopic Pediatric Inguinal Hernia Repair: Intracorporeal Suturing Technique

Another minimally invasive methods of repairing inguinal hernia, called the "intracorporeal suturing technique," involves sewing the hernia closed from the inside of the abdomen using 2-mm instruments and a tiny camera.
Watch Video (33.5MB Windows Media) >>

Laparoscopic Interval Appendectomy

An appendectomy used to be a large and complex operation, but minimally invasive surgery now allows the appendix to be removed in pediatric patients through three small incisions.  This video shows an appendectomy in a patient who had presented with perforated appendicitis, was treated with antibiotics for a few weeks, and then operated on laparoscopically.
Watch Video (10.46MB Windows Media) >>

Laparoscopic Neonatal Ovarian Cyst Excision and Marsupialization

Advances in minimally invasive surgery have led to instruments that are only 2 mm in diameter, which allows laparoscopic operations on patients even as small as infants.  In this case, a newborn baby with feeding difficulties was found to have a large ovarian cyst, which was removed with latraroscopic surgery.
Watch Video (24.04MB Windows Media) >>

Laparoscopic pyloromyotomy

In small babies, a thickening of the pylorus muscle can prevent food from leaving the stomach and cause vomiting.  Minimally invasive techniques and very small instruments allow us to open the pylorus enough for babies to enjoy eating again.
Watch Video (5.58MB Windows Media) >>

Laparoscopic pyloromyotomy (Alternative Knife)

The Smith and Nephew Acufex meniscectomy knife is used to create the pyloromyotomy.  An 8F red rubber catheter is used to create a sheathed blade and can be placed at the desired length based on the pyloric thickness.
Watch Video (21.6MB Windows Media) >>

Laparoscopic Pediatric Spleen Surgery:  Partial Excision of a Splenic Cyst

Splenic cysts can be of many types (for example: simple cysts, post trauma, post infection).  Where a splenic cyst excision would have been a major operation in the past, minimally invasive techniques now allow many of these cysts to be addressed through 3 or 4 small incisions using the laparoscope.
Watch Video (19.12MB Windows Media) >>

Laparoscopic Splenopexy for a Wandering Spleen

Wandering spleen is a rare pediatric condition, but if untreated the complications can be devastating.  A new laparoscopic surgical technique has been developed to anchor the spleen in a retroperitoneal pocket thereby avoiding an open incision as well as any prosthetic patches, as has been used in the past.
Watch Video (6.35MB Windows Media) >>

Minimally Invasive Pectus Excavatum Repair

Pectus excavatum, a condition that affects many children both physiologically and psychologically, can now be corrected by a technique that involves insertion of a bar to splint the chest in a more appropriate position.
Watch Video (8.59MB Windows Media) >>

Single-Incision Surgery

Single Port Laparoscopic Repair of a Diaphragmatic Hernia

A Diaphramatic Hernia is a congenital defect in the diaphragm which allows the abdominal organs to herniate into the chest.  In this video, one of these hernias is repaired in a child using a single laparoscopic port in the belly button.  This represents the very latest in minimally invasive surgical technology.
Watch Video (58.28MB Windows Media) >>

Single Incision Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Using cutting edge technology, we can now remove the gallbladder through a single incision in the belly button.  This results in a scar that is virtually invisible.
Watch Video (44.25MB Windows Media) >>

Thoracoscopic Surgery  

Thoracoscopic Excision of an Esophageal Duplication

Some children are born with or develop cystic lesion in the mediastinum (or central portion of the chest cavity). This video shows the removal of one such lesion a video scope and three small incisions on the chest wall. The lesion turned out to be an esophageal duplication cyst.
Watch Video (21.4MB Windows Media) >>

Thoracoscopic Diaphragmatic Hernia Repair

Some babies are born with a hole in the diaphragm which allows contents of the abdomen to move up into the chest.  In the past, these babies need to have a large incision in the abdomen or chest to allow the surgeon to repair the hole in the diaphragm.  Using minimally invasive techniques, the surgeons at All Children's Hospital can in many cases perform the entire repair through incisions only 3 to 5 mm in size.
Watch Video (13.7MB Windows Media) >>  

Thoracoscopic Sympathectomy for Hyperhidrosis

In the condition called hyperhidrosis, patients suffer debilitating palm and/or feet sweating.  Using minimally invasive techniques, this condition can be treated with sympathectomy.
Watch Video (28.96MB Windows Media) >>

Thoracoscopic Lung Resection

A portion of the lung may need to be resected for many reasons.  Minimally invasive techniques allow us to perform the surgery with 3 small incisions.  In this case a teenager was found to have a 2cm nodule on the lung. 
Watch Video (29.72MB Windows Media) >>

Thoracoscopic Treatment of Pneumothorax

Some children suffer spontaneous pneumothorax (collapse of the lung).   This is often due to a bleb (bubble) on the surface of the lung which pops and leaks air.  Using thoracoscopy, this diseased area of the lung can be removed and steps can be taken (pleurectomy and pleurodesis) to minimize the chance of a dangerous tension pneumothorax from developing in the future.
Watch Video (31.55MB Windows Media) >>