General Paediatric Surgery

The Department of Paediatric Surgery and Urology provides services in:

1. General Paediatric Surgery
2. Neonatal Surgery
3. Paediatric Urology
4. Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery
5. Oncosurgery
6. Trauma surgery

We carry out surgery to treat a range of childhood conditions, from the more common such as appendicitis, hernias and undescended testes to rare congenital and acquired diseases that require more complex surgical procedures.

Many of the procedures that our surgeons perform are done using minimally invasive techniques. Our department was the first to introduce 3D laparoscopy to Sri Lanka. These techniques use a small camera that magnifies the image, so the surgeon can see what is happening inside the body in great detail. This allows them to make smaller incisions, which means shorter healing times, lower risk of infection and less pain and discomfort. These minimally invasive techniques such as laparoscopy (minimally invasive surgery in the abdominal cavity) and thoracoscopy (minimally invasive surgery inside the chest) are used to treat conditions like appendicitis, gall bladder disease, undescended testes, Hirschsprung disease and imperforate anus. We are also developing experience in offering our smallest patients with conditions such as oesophageal atresia and congenital diaphragmatic hernia the benefit of these minimally invasive procedures.

All paediatric urological procedures from correction of hypospadias to complex operations such as feminizing genitoplasty and bladder augmentations are performed at our department. Many urological procedures such as pyeloplasty and nephrectomy are also done laparoscopically. LRH has the only paedaitric urology centre in the country equipped with advanced minimally invasive treatment modalities including laser lithotripsy for all types of paediatric urinary tract stones. Many other endourological procedures are also performed regularly.

Our gastrointestinal endoscopic unit housed in the operating theatre is equipped with facilities for upper and lower gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures such as variceal banding, balloon dilatation of strictures and snare polypectomy.

The bulk of paediatric oncosurgery for cancers such as Wilms tumour, neuroblastoma and hepatoblastoma is done at the LRH. We team up with our paediatric medical oncology colleagues of the National Cancer Institute (Apeksha Hospital) in Maharagama in the care of our patients.

Trauma care for children up to 14 years of age is provided by our department through the Accident Service of LRH.

It is the main centre for training in paediatric surgery for undergraduate medical students of the local universities and for postgraduates attached to the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo. We also accommodate trainees from overseas for elective appointments. LRH has trained over 25 board certified paediatric surgeons for the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, who are currently providing their services in all provinces of the country. Some of our trainees are employed in paediatric surgical centres as consultants in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.