Starship Paediatric Surgery and Urology

Public Service, General Surgery, Paediatrics, Urology

Description

The Department of Paediatric Surgery and Urology provides surgical management for children living within the greater Auckland and Northland regions, as well as children with complex paediatric surgical conditions New Zealand wide and for the Pacific Basin. Our surgical team consists of paediatric surgeons, a fellow, registrars, a nurse specialist, a charge nurse and nurse educator attached to the surgical ward.

Clinics are held at Greenlane Clinical Centre and Starship and we also provide Outreach Clinics enabling children to be seen closer to their home towns. Minor surgery is also offered at some of these centres.

Our team of surgeons performs routine day surgery to complex procedures on children with unique surgical problems. This includes:

Abdominal surgery
Thoracic surgery
Neonatal surgery
Genitourinary surgery
Oncologic surgery
Minimally invasive surgery
Trauma surgery.

What is Paediatric Surgery?

Paediatric Surgery is the specialty that includes surgeons who have specialist training in the management of children (usually up to the age of about 15 years) who have conditions that may require surgery. Paediatric surgery normally deals with non-cardiac thoracic (chest) surgery, general paediatric surgery and paediatric urology. It also covers the antenatal management of congenital structural abnormalities, neonatal surgery and oncological (cancer) surgery of children.

What is Urology?

Paediatric Urology involves the surgical management of genital and urinary problems that occur in children. There is a special emphasis on developmental problems affecting the kidneys, bladder, urethra or genital tract.

Consultants

Dr Kimberly Aikins

Paediatric Surgeon
Mr John Atkinson

Paediatric Surgeon
Mr Stephen Evans

Paediatric Surgeon
Mr James Hamill

Paediatric Surgeon
Mr Phil Morreau

Paediatric Surgeon
Mr Neil Price

Paediatric Surgeon
Mr Vipul Upadhyay

Paediatric Surgeon

Referral Expectations

Referral to our surgical clinics must come from your doctor (GP), or from another specialist either within Starship or another hospital.

Due to the number of referrals the Department receives, referrals are prioritised by the triaging surgeon based on the information provided by your GP. This information determines how soon you will be seen by a surgeon. Where it is unlikely your child will require surgery the referral may be returned to your GP for them to manage your child's condition.

When you come to your appointment, the surgeon will ask questions about your child's illness and examine them to try to determine or confirm the diagnosis. This process may also require a number of tests (e.g. blood tests, x-rays, scans etc). Sometimes this can all be done during one visit, but for some conditions this will take several follow-up appointments. Occasionally some tests are arranged even before your appointment to try to speed up the process.

Once a diagnosis has been made, the surgeon will discuss treatment with you. In some instances this will mean surgery, while other cases can be managed with medication and advice. If surgery is advised, the steps involved in the surgical process and the likely outcome are usually discussed with you at this time.

Hours

- General Paediatric Surgical clinics are held at Greenlane Clinical Centre and Starship.

- Your clinic day and time will depend on which surgeon you will be seeing.

- Weekly clinics are also run at Manukau SuperClinic and fortnightly at Waitakere Hospital.

- Regular visiting clinics currently take place in Whangārei, Kaitaia, New Plymouth and Gisborne.

- The Paediatric Urinary Tract Clinic is held on Thursday mornings.

- The Neurogenic Bladder Clinic is held every 4th Wednesday afternoon.

- The Urodynamics Clinic is held on alternate Tuesday mornings from 10:30 - 12:45.

- Acute or urgent referrals are seen in the Children's Emergency Department.

Common Conditions/ Procedures / Treatments

Umbilical Hernia

Umbilical hernias are very common in infants, with one in 10 young children being affected.… More
Inguinal Hernia

An inguinal hernia is an abnormal bulge, or protrusion, that can be seen and felt in the groin area (the area between the abdomen and the thigh).… More
Hydrocoele

A hydrocoele is a collection of fluid in the scrotal sac of male infants that drains downward from the abdominal cavity.… More
Undescended Testes

Undescended testes occur when one or both of the testicles do not reach the scrotum and remain inside the groin and occasionally the abdomen.… More
Foreskin

The foreskin is normally non-retractile at birth and it is common for some boys to not have a retractile foreskin until after puberty.… More
Hypospadias

Hypospadias (opening below) is an abnormal appearance of the penis, characterised by the abnormally situated opening of the urethra.… More