Four Common Reasons Why Your Child May Need Surgery

Nov. 14, 2008 - PRLog -- (SOUTHBURY, CT)—For parents there is nothing more frightening than hearing that their child is in need of surgery. It’s easy to assume the worst, and parents often question why their child needs surgery so early in life.

“How a family copes with the stress of surgery depends partially on the information at hand,” says Dr. Armen Ketchedjian, author of the book Will It Hurt? A Parent’s Practical Guide to Children’s Surgery. “In today’s busy medical practices, the dispensing of complete information maybe compromised.”

Child surgery, however, is not as uncommon as some new parents assume. This year alone, more than five million children underwent surgical procedures. A child’s developmental years are busy for the body—organs are growing and bones are developing, often revealing defects that may not have been noticeable earlier.

In Will It Hurt?, Dr. Ketch, as his patients call him, provides crucial information about some of the most common surgeries children undergo and what parents can do to better prepare themselves for the possibility that their child may need surgery.

According to Dr. Ketch, there are four common surgeries that parents and children may encounter:
• Hernia repair: A hernia is a protrusion of an organ or other structure through the wall that normally contains it. The hole in the wall has to be repaired so that the protrusion can be contained.

• Tonsillectomy or appendectomy: Whereas once, these surgeries required several days of admission, today they call for barely more than eight hours in the hospital.

• Trauma repair: As kids become more active in sports, they may fall or injure themselves; facial cuts may require stitches and broken bones may require surgery.

• Illness remedy: During the developmental years, and even during gestation, certain illnesses that require surgery may develop in a child.

“Parents can greatly help their child anticipate what to expect and allay any anxiety by being loving and supportive,” says Dr. Ketch. “A parent’s support, along with the assistance of the operating room staff, will make the events pass quickly.”

Will It Hurt? A Parent’s Practical Guide to Children’s Surgery aims to educate parents about pediatric surgery. It’s an easy-to-read resource that will give parents, children and families the help and reassurance they need to make any surgical experience as stress-free as possible.

Listed in The Guide to America’s Top Anesthesiologists by the Consumer Research Council of America, Dr. Ketch trained at Cornell Medical Center, with a fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a pain management elective at Boston Children’s Hospital. He has worked to help develop new techniques in ambulatory anesthesia, taught medical students and residents, and cared for more than 10,000 patients.

Dr. Ketch is also the author of the children's book Golden Apples (winner of the 2008 Reviewer's Choice Award), a beautifully illustrated book that aims to help educate children about the dangers of drug abuse.

For more information, contact the author directly at support@dr.ketch.com.

WARREN ENTERPRISES, LLC and author Dr. Armen G. Ketchedjian choose Arbor Books, Inc. (www.ArborBooks.com) to design and promote Will It Hurt? A Parent’s Practical Guide to Children’s Surgery. Arbor Books is an internationally renowned, full-service book design, ghostwriting and marketing firm.  

(Will It Hurt? A Parent’s Practical Guide to Children’s Surgery by Dr. Ketch; ISBN: 0-9815373-0-8; $14.95; 172 pages; 5½” x 8 ½”; softcover with illustrations; WARREN ENTERPRISES, LLC)