When it comes to surgery, one size does not fit all. Children and adults have different needs before, during, and after surgery, even if they are being treated for the same conditions. Pediatric surgeons have special training that allows them to work specifically on young patients to ensure the best possible outcomes. Here is a closer look at how surgery in children’s hospitals differs from adult surgical procedures.

Prepping patients and families
For kids, surgery is a family affair. Before a pediatric surgery, the doctors and surgeons involved in the case will spending time explaining what to expect to the patient in an age-appropriate way and helping parents and siblings understand the procedure.

It’s important for parents to have a complete understanding of their children’s surgery, so they feel as comfortable as possible about the treatment plan and are equipped for the recovery period. It is equally important for the pediatric patient to have age-appropriate knowledge of the procedure so that he or she is relaxed rather than fearful.

Using kid-friendly surgical equipment
Kids have different needs in terms of anesthesia and surgical equipment. Pediatric anesthesiologists are trained to provide safe and effective anesthesia to young patients, adjusting medications as necessary for a child’s weight and to account for children’s small airways.

Pediatric surgeons are able to perform minimally invasive procedures on children thanks to equipment that has been manufactured to be kid-sized. As the video states, pediatric surgical equipment is small and precise, so that kids can reap the benefits of faster recovery times that are associated with minimally invasive procedures. Open surgeries, when necessary, are also performed with kid-friendly equipment.

Managing post-operative pain
Kids often struggle to accurately describe pain levels after surgery, which can make pain management more complex. Child Life specialists are healthcare associates in children’s hospitals who help kids learn to describe their pain levels and assist in ensuring young patients’ post-operative pain is being adequately and safely controlled.

Arthritis isn’t just an adult’s disease. Kids can and do get arthritis, and it can affect their health in many ways. If your pediatrics specialist has diagnosed your child with arthritis, it’s important to follow his or her treatment plan closely, including having regular visits with the doctor so that your child’s condition can be monitored. Here is what you need to know about juvenile arthritis and how it may affect your child’s growth.

Juvenile arthritis 101
Juvenile arthritis is not a disease but is instead an umbrella term that refers to multiple forms of arthritis that can affect kids. Some of the forms of arthritis that fall into the category of juvenile arthritis are:

• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
• Juvenile lupus
• Juvenile scleroderma
• Juvenile dermatomyositis

All forms of juvenile arthritis can cause different symptoms, and some forms of the disease cause little joint pain at all but instead affect the eyes, muscles, skin, or gastrointestinal tract.

Juvenile arthritis and growth
Whether juvenile arthritis affects growth depends on many different factors, including:

• Type of disease
• Severity of disease
• Effectiveness of treatments

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis, which itself contains multiple subsets of the arthritis, is the most common form of the disease to interfere with growth. In addition to joint pain and swelling, this form of arthritis can affect the way that bones grow. Kids with this form of arthritis who experience changes to their bone growth may have bones that grow too slowly. When the lower extremities are affected, height can be impacted.

Growth can also be affected by treatments for juvenile arthritis. Often, kids with arthritis take corticosteroids to control their symptoms. Long-term use of steroids is associated with delayed growth that may be permanent.

Working closely with your child’s doctor at Sunrise Children’s Hospital is essential after a diagnosis of juvenile arthritis. With the right treatments, symptoms can be controlled and the risk of complications can be reduced. Call our children’s hospital in Las Vegas at (702) 233-5437 for more information or a referral to a pediatrics specialist.

Food allergies are scary for parents and kids alike. In addition to the caution that families need to take in their own homes to prevent exposure to trigger foods, parents have to worry about their kids coming into contact with off-limit foods at school and friends’ houses. Kids with food allergies are often no stranger to the ER in their children’s hospital and frequently need emergency care for severe allergic reactions. One question parents often have when their kids have food allergies is if the allergies will go away later in life. Here’s what is what you need to know.

Allergies that may go away during adulthood
There is no guarantee that any food allergy will go away during adulthood. However, some food allergies are more likely to clear up than others. Food allergies that kids commonly grow out of are:

• Milk
• Wheat
• Soy
• Egg

Kids who outgrow these allergies sometimes do so later in their childhoods and during their teen years. In other cases, kids don’t outgrow them until they reach adulthood. Your pediatrics specialist will monitor the progression of your child’s allergies and help you determine if he or she is overcoming an allergic reaction to a specific trigger.

Allergies that do not go away during adulthood
Some food allergies are more likely to remain for life. These allergies include:

• Peanut
• Tree nut
• Fish
• Shellfish

Although occasionally these allergies do go away, they linger for life for most people. Keep in mind that the severity of the reaction is not a reliable indicator of whether or not an allergy will go away.

Determining if your child still has an allergy
If you suspect that your child has outgrown an allergy, don’t feed him or her the trigger food to test the idea. Instead, allow your child’s pediatric allergist to perform in-office testing. Testing at home could lead to anaphylaxis and the need for emergency care.

If your child is diagnosed with autism, it’s not surprising that your initial focus is working with his or her pediatrician to learn everything you can about managing this disorder. One thing that often gets overlooked is the fact that autism also increases the risk of other health conditions in kids. By knowing the conditions that your child has a greater risk of developing, you can be vigilant about spotting the symptoms and reporting them to his or her pediatrician as soon as possible. Although your pediatrician is the best source of information about your child’s specific health risks, here are some of the conditions that occur more frequently in kids with autism.

Gastrointestinal disorders
Gastrointestinal—or GI—disorders are among the most common co-occurring conditions with autism. Kids who have autism are more likely than other kids to suffer from a range of GI symptoms, including:

• Chronic constipation
• Diarrhea
• IBS
• GERD

As with most conditions, researchers are not sure why there is an increased risk of GI disorders with autism. Your pediatrician can recommend many different treatment options, depending on the nature of your child’s symptoms. The discomfort of GI disorders can impact your child’s behavior, so finding effective treatments is important.

Sleep disorders
Autism is closely linked with disrupted sleep, and most kids with autism will experience problems with sleeping at least sporadically. For some kids, sleep problems become chronic, leading to ongoing problems with falling and staying asleep. Disrupted sleep can cause a range of symptoms for kids with autism, including:

• Daytime drowsiness
• Hyperactivity
• Inattentiveness

Sleep disorders in kids with autism can also affect the rest of the family’s sleep. Your pediatrician will try to determine if there are underlying causes for your child’s disrupted sleep, such as medication side effects, and recommend bedtime strategies that can help.

Seizure disorders
There is a close link between seizure disorders and autism. Kids with autism have a dramatically increased risk of developing a seizure disorder, while kids who have seizure disorders are more likely to be diagnosed with autism.

Treating seizure disorders is important for the overall wellness of kids with autism. Your pediatrician may recommend medications and dietary changes.

Parents don’t like to think about their kids experimenting with alcohol, but the truth is that by the time kids reach high school, most of them will. Talking to your kids early, often, and truthfully about alcohol is the best way to protect them from the potentially dangerous consequences of drinking and to give them the tools they need to make smart decisions. If you are concerned that your child is abusing alcohol, talk to his or her pediatrician about steps you can take. This advice will help you get the conversation about alcohol started with your kids in a way that it will sink in.

Be a good example
Your kids watch everything you do closely, so set a good example by the way you use alcohol. Don’t reach for a drink at every social occasion, so kids understand that drinking isn’t necessary to have fun.

Living a healthy lifestyle that involves physical activity, healthy eating, and not drinking to excess will teach your kids that these are normal, smart decisions that you make and expect them to make, too.

Don’t wait to bring it up
It’s never too early to start talking about alcohol in an age-appropriate way. For young children, talking about how alcohol can make you feel sick can be a good lesson, while slightly older kids might be interested in hearing about the ways that alcohol affects the body.

When kids reach middle school and high school, they are likely to encounter kids who are experimenting with alcohol. Talk to them about peer pressure and their right to say no to things that they don’t want to do. Focus on the health and legal consequences of drinking for kids in their age groups.

Open the lines of communication
Be open to kids asking questions about alcohol at any age, and answer them truthfully and without judgment. Resist the urge to lecture. Kids who feel respected are more likely to come to you for advice.

Remind teens that they can call you if they find themselves in a risky situation, and that you will help them without asking questions.