THORACIC (CHEST) SURGERY
General pediatric surgeons are trained first in all aspects of general surgery for
adults and children, then go on and train extra years in the specialty care of newborns,
infants, and children. Part of that extra training is to gain expertise in the area of
thoracic (chest) surgery. Board certified pediatric surgeons are trained in most all areas
of thoracic surgery, including cardiac (heart) operations. But most, including our group,
no longer do cardiac (heart) operations, but do perform all other types of thoracic
surgery. That would include operations on the chest wall to correct congenital (birth)
defects, "pectus" deformities, operations on the lungs, esophagus (swallowing
tube), diaphragm (muscle for breathing), ribs, and blood vessels around the heart.
Pediatric surgeons also care for children with traumatic (accidental) injuries to the
chest. Some of the more common chest surgeries would include those for tumors of the
chest, empyema (complications of pneumonias and other infections), pneumothorax (collapsed
lung), and pectus excavatum (depression of the breastbone).
Unfortunately, many newborn babies are faced with thoracic surgical problems. These
include hernias of the diaphragm, esophageal atresia (absence or a gap in the swallowing
tube), tracheoesophageal fistula (an abnormal connection from the windpipe to the
swallowing tube), lung cysts and sometimes tumors of the lung or other organs in the
chest. Our group, all fully trained in neonatal (newborn) thoracic surgery, offers care
for babies with these and other conditions.
In addition to traditional surgery, we also treat many thoracic diseases or problems
with endoscopic (telescope) techniques. This includes removing foreign bodies of the
trachea and esophagus (objects like peanuts or coins that are "choked on" or
swallowed by children) and removing infection or parts of lungs with thoracoscopy
(telescopes placed through small holes in the chest).
We are also now able to treat some chest wall deformities with these
"minimally-invasive" surgery techniques to do the work that once required very
major chest surgery, and now only requires placing internal braces through small
incisions. These techniques have been useful in many areas to minimize the procedures
necessary to treat certain illnesses. Our group is proud that we have the full range of
expertise to offer all of these procedures, where appropriate, to the children of Georgia
and southeast.
