Department of Surgery
Division of Pediatric Surgery
The pediatric surgeons of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School operate on children from the newborn stage through the teenage years. We are all board certified in general surgery and pediatric surgery and have trained at many of the leading pediatric centers in the country.
We are academic pediatric surgeons, not just in practice. That means we have the following priorities:
1) To provide the highest-quality, modern and state-of-the-art pediatric surgical care for your child, in the safest possible environment, while always being customer focused and assuring that you, the parent, are fully informed and as comfortable as possible.
2) To seek new knowledge in our field and to disseminate that knowledge to our colleagues in this country and around the world so as to improve the care of children everywhere.
3) To teach medical students and residents how to care for children, recognizing the obligation to provide for the physicians of the future, but always in a closely supervised and safe fashion.
Our surgeons operate at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, a modern pediatric facility that is the only free-standing tertiary pediatric hospital in the state.
Current programs
We understand that weight-reduction surgery is a huge commitment to a new, healthy lifestyle, and Rutgers Adolescent Obesity and Foregut Surgery Program is dedicated to supporting you through each step of the process, from your initial questions and consideration of weight-loss surgery, through the steps you’ll take to prepare, to the actual procedure and beyond. We’re here for you. Though it takes hard work, you won't be on your own.
The division of pediatric surgery provides comprehensive surgical treatment of infants and children through 18 years of age. Areas of expertise include:
- Surgery of the head and neck
- Surgery of the chest (non-cardiac)
- Surgery of the abdomen
- Surgery of the gastrointestinal tract
- Oncology
- Surgery of the soft tissues (extremities)
- Surgery of the anus/rectum
- Surgery of the endocrine glands
- Gynecological surgery (adolescent)
- Surgery of the genitourinary system (non-reconstructive)
- Bronchoscopy/esophagoscopy
Specialized instruments are used through "keyhole" incisions for a wide range of surgical problems in both the chest and the abdomen. Examples of this technique include treatment of gastroesophageal reflux (Nissen operation), splenectomy, removal of certain tumors and/or cysts, lung biopsy, appendectomy and treatment of empyema. These techniques diminish the pain of the procedure while also decreasing the length of stay in the hospital and the amount of visible scarring.
Pediatric surgeons have specialized knowledge and extensive training in the surgical management of many birth defects, some of which may be life-threatening to both premature and full-term infants. Working closely with the attending neonatologists, the service can provide full care to the newborn requiring operative intervention.
In close coordination with the division of pediatric hematology-oncology, the pediatric surgeons work with the entire pediatric oncology team of pediatric radiologists and radiation therapists, pediatric pathologists, nurses, social workers and child-life specialists in a coordinated care plan to minimize apprehension and maximize quality outcomes for the child with cancer. A broad spectrum of services is offered, from placement of long-term intravenous access devices to removal of large, complex solid tumors, all offered per protocol of the Children's Oncology Group.
The greatest danger to a child's life throughout the country is death and disability due to injury. The pediatric surgeons work hand-in-hand with the Level I trauma surgeons at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and their trauma team to care for the most seriously injured children throughout the central part of the state. Transfer to the Trauma Center by land or air is rapidly and smoothly arranged. Coordination among the various necessary surgical specialties is achieved, all with constant focus upon the unique physical and psychological needs of the growing child. The pediatric surgeons actively participate in the education of pre-hospital care providers, pediatric emergency medicine physicians, residents and medical students in the handling of the traumatized child.
More than 80 percent of the operations performed by the pediatric surgery division are done on a same-day-surgery basis. Procedures, such as inguinal or umbilical hernia surgery, orchidopexy and removal of the thyroglossal duct and branchial cysts, can all be performed within just a few hours of the time the patient and parents arrive. A pediatric anesthesiologist specially trained in the management of children attends the child. Perioperative care from arrival to departure is aimed at the comfort of the child and parent(s).
Participating Providers (3)
| Haris Sye Ahmed, MD | (732) 235-7821 |
| Sathyaprasad C. Burjonrappa, MD | (732) 235-7821 |
| Arunachalam A. Thenappan, MD | (732) 235-7821 |