Pediatric Surgery

From traumatic injuries to complex malformations and everything in between, the Division of General Pediatric Surgery at Lurie Children’s treats conditions common and rare, from before birth to adolescence. Our surgeons, many with subspeciality expertise in areas such as colorectal conditions, surgical oncology and chest wall deformities, perform more pediatric operations than any other pediatric hospital in the Chicago metropolitan area. Our clinical teams use the most advanced techniques and minimally invasive approaches that are unique in the region. We have offices throughout the Chicago area, including surgical sites in Northbrook and Westchester, making our team especially accessible and convenient.

Lurie Children’s has received recognition as a Level I Children’s Surgery Center, demonstrating proficiency in surgical care at all levels. Lurie Children’s was the first in Illinois to have this designation.  
 
Furthermore, our team is dedicated to Lurie Children’s academic and educational missions by participating in research and by training the next generation of pediatric surgeons through acclaimed residency and fellowship programs. 

Why Choose Lurie Children's? 

Lurie Children’s is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 children’s hospital in Illinois. Here, the focus is placed entirely on children and their comprehensive wellbeing. To that end, our surgeons collaborate with a wide range of specialists — radiology, cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology, neonatology, oncology and general pediatrics — to provide multidisciplinary, individualized care within the same hospital. Each child receives the safest, timeliest and most appropriate treatment, including radiation-free imaging alternatives, as well as low-dose radiation protocols for pediatric CT scans.

Our physician-surgeons are able to perform children’s routine procedures, such as gallbladder removal, and also provide coordinated, multidisciplinary care for children with more complex conditions, such as congenital anomalies, complex tumors and colorectal conditions.

We aim to treat the child with the disease, not the disease itself. To do so we address all aspects of a child’s hospital experience, through individualized, multidisciplinary and culturally appropriate care that involves the whole family. Our family-focused approach includes the services of a full-time language medical interpreters, social workers, nutritionists and a child life specialist. The child life specialist works with pediatric surgery to help normalize the hospital experience for children undergoing minor and complex surgeries through use of medical play and other techniques. We use pain and anxiety-reduction approaches for wound care and other surgical procedures.

Our team provides surgical care at its downtown location but also in Westchester and Northbrook, where some patients may find more convenient access to care with the same specialists and level of care at the downtown location.