Pediatric Surgery

Infants, children and adolescents with congenital and acquired conditions are not just tiny adults. Their small size, developing bodies and difficulty in communicating their conditions require our doctors, nurses and other health care providers to have special knowledge and experience to diagnose and treat our youngest patients.

Our pediatric surgeons are internationally recognized leaders in the fields of pediatric surgical cancer, minimally invasive surgery and birth defects. Children from throughout the United States and from other countries have been brought to San Francisco to take advantage of our special expertise. Modern surgical techniques and modern technologies -- many of them developed by UCSF physicians -- now allow many procedures to be performed with miniature instruments and tiny scopes inserted through small incisions. For many patients, these minimally invasive procedures result in few or no scars and minimize some of the risks associated with open surgeries.

UCSF Children's Hospital pioneered work in treating severe birth defects in children before they are born, developing procedures that have resulted in healthy newborns and mothers.

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For help finding a doctor, please contact our Physician Referral Service: