Surgery Just for Kids

Nearly 12,000 surgeries are performed annually at Dayton Children’s with 89 percent on an outpatient basis. Children are not little adults, so we’ve designed our surgical services for the unique needs of children and their families. Here’s some ways we are different:

Pediatric expertise. Our surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and therapists are experts in pediatric care. In fact, pediatric specialists require additional training beyond adult physicians in the same specialty.
Presurgery tour. Conducted every Monday and Wednesday, these tours of the outpatient surgery area provide an opportunity to ask questions and help reduce anxiety.
Privacy and distraction. Advanced surgery complex is designed to provide children and their families with privacy before surgery. The rooms are equipped with televisions and video games to help distract children and put them at ease before surgery.
Pet therapy. Every day, our pet therapy dogs, of all sizes, visit the surgery department to ease kids’ fears and offer a friendly diversion before surgery.
Pain busters. Our pain management team offers multiple techniques to help relieve a child’s pain before and after surgery.
Family-centered care. We include parents as part of the care team. Parents have an important role in preparing their child for surgery and for caring for their child after surgery. We help you prepare for your role.

The pediatric surgical services division at Dayton Children’s has 70 specialists trained to perform surgical procedures on kids, and together they have hundreds of years of experience caring only for kids. For more information, visit our pediatric surgery main page.

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