Department of Pediatric Surgery - St. Elisabethen Hospital Lörrach

About the Department of Pediatric Surgery at St. Elisabethen Hospital Lörrach

The Department of Pediatric Surgery at the St. Elisabethen Hospital Lörrach offers the full range of conservative, surgical and postoperative treatment of bone fractures, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, congenital malformations and acquired diseases of the genitourinary system. The department also performs plastic and reconstructive interventions. The special task of the department's experts is to provide successful treatment with the maximum possible safety of a young patient. In this regard, minimally invasive surgical interventions are a priority for doctors, in which there is no need to make traumatic extensive incisions in the skin and soft tissues. The medical facility motto is "There is nothing more important for us than the health and happiness of the child!". Thus, it is important for doctors not only to restore the health of the young patient, but also to create the most comfortable and pleasant atmosphere for the child. The department was awarded the prestigious Ausgezeichnet. FÜR KINDER. ("Perfect. For children.") certificate of the German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine for the high quality of treatment provided. The department is headed by an outstanding pediatric surgeon Dr. med. Tobias Berberich.

The department admits children between the ages of 0 and 18. To provide medical care in accordance with the characteristics of the child's body, the medical facility has a specially trained team of pediatric surgeons, anesthesiologists and child care specialists. In the process of treatment, information about the characteristics of the growth and development of the child's body in different age periods is taken into account. The department's surgeons work in accordance with current clinical protocols, and also follow the recommendations of professional societies for the treatment of pathologies in childhood and adolescence. The specialists regularly undergo advanced training courses and master innovative surgical techniques to provide top-class medical care.

Depending on the particular diagnosis and clinical indications, the operation can be performed on an outpatient or inpatient basis. The department's operating rooms have state-of-the-art equipment and modern computer technology, due to which most interventions are performed using low traumatic laparoscopic techniques. For example, such interventions as fundoplication, cholecystectomy, appendectomy, pylorotomy, and cryptorchidism treatment are successfully performed with the use of minimally invasive techniques. Such an approach allows achieving the best cosmetic results, reducing trauma rate and relieving severe pain, as well as accelerating the healing process. In particular, the department's innovation is a special surgical technique, in which the appendix is ​​removed practically without soft tissue incisions, through the navel.

The priority focuses of pediatric surgeons include the treatment of genital malformations in boys. In their clinical practice, the specialists regularly deal with the treatment of cryptorchidism (undescended testicles), hypospadias, epispadias, hydrocele, and phimosis. In most cases, a minor outpatient intervention is performed for the repair of the above mentioned malformations.

The department also successfully performs operations for gastrointestinal diseases in children. Surgeons specialize in the surgical treatment of appendicitis, cholecystitis, pyloric stenosis, intussusception, gastroesophageal reflux disease, epigastric hernias and inguinal hernias. Whenever possible, sparing minimally invasive techniques are used, so the child does not need to stay in the hospital for a long time.

The young patients of the department also have access to all modern options in the field of conservative and surgical treatment of fractures. The professional competence of doctors includes the treatment of I-IV degree burn injuries in children. In addition to classical methods, innovative local negative pressure therapy is provided here.

The department's main clinical activities include:

• Surgical treatment of gastrointestinal diseases
  • Minimally invasive appendectomy for acute and chronic appendicitis
  • Minimally invasive cholecystectomy for calculous cholecystitis
  • Minimally invasive pyloromyotomy for pyloric stenosis
  • Minimally invasive and open fundoplication for diaphragmatic hernia and gastroesophageal reflux disease
• Surgical treatment of congenital and acquired genitourinary diseases
  • Minimally invasive testicular repositioning for unilateral and bilateral cryptorchidism
  • Treatment of hydrocele
  • Plastic interventions for hypospadias
  • Plastic interventions for epispadias
  • Phimosis correction
• Conservative and surgical treatment of bone fractures
  • Fracture reposition under general or local anesthesia, taking into account the characteristics of the child's body
  • Injured limb immobilization with modern splints
  • Adhesive plaster traction for fractures in young children
  • Intramedullary osteosynthesis in older children
  • Assessment of fracture consolidation using X-ray, CT and high-power MRI
• Conservative and surgical treatment of I-IV degree burn injuries 
  • Surgical treatment of burns
  • Treatment of burns with modern bandages
  • Wound therapy with local negative pressure
• Other diseases and treatment methods