Premature Infant & Neonatal Surgery

Overview

Neonates who are premature or extremely unwell may require surgery soon after birth to correct congenital malformations or anomalies. Neonatal surgery is done on newborns shortly after birth. It is often used to treat diseases that cannot be detected or treated while the baby is still in the womb. It may also be used to address problems that arise shortly after delivery. Premature babies frequently require neonatal surgery to fix developmental abnormalities.

Depending on the problem being treated, there are several types of fetal and neonatal operations. These procedures range from minimally invasive laparoscopic to more invasive open surgical approaches.

The conditions that are found in pregnancy scans are often a result of a baby not developing properly. For example, exomphalos is one of the conditions that is operated on by neonatal surgeons. This condition is caused by the incorrect development of the tummy wall, causing the bowel to remain on the outside of the baby’s body. Again, the severity of this can range from minor to complex.