DEPARTMENT OF Anesthesiology

Administering Anaesthetics to babies and small children is not the same as anaesthetizing adults. Unlike in adults most procedures require a general anaesthetic where the child is asleep. The Pediatric Anaesthesia team at KKCTH provide exceptional patient care, comparable to any other Anaesthesia facility available for children’s surgery around the world.Special training, techniques, vigilance, equipment and approach are required for the care of these delicate ones and we have it all!

Our Operating rooms are equipped with the most advanced Anaesthesia workstations and monitoring facilities exclusively designed for children’s’ surgery of all age groups. With multi-disciplinary collaboration, dedicated Pediatric Anaesthetists provide safe anaesthesia to assist challenging surgical procedures in children. A specially designed and equipped induction room allows parents to be by the child’s side till he/she goes to sleep (where suitable). The Anaesthetic technique is planned specific to each child prior to the procedure.

We take care of children of all ages from new born to teenagers—during surgery. Our goal is to make the hospital experience as pleasant as possible. Our role involves managing -your child’s anxiety before surgery, his or her pain during and after surgery, supporting critical bodily functions during the procedure- to minimize the risks associated with surgery itself.

The Preanesthetic check helps us build a rapport with your child and eases the process of induction of anaesthesia. Pain relief for the procedure is discussed with the parents and is a continuous process which starts during the surgery itself and is continued postoperatively. At the end of the surgery the child is safely recovered in our recovery room under the watchful eye of the nurses and transferred to the ward after complete recovery.

Our team works closely with doctors in many other departments. We work with Dental Medicine, Gastroenterology, General surgery, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, Orthopedic surgery, Otolaryngology(ENT), Plastic Surgery, Radiology, Urology and other departments. Each year, our team cares for more than 5000 children.

Our anaesthetists are widely travelled, published and visit other children’s hospitals around the world to keep up to date with the latest in the field of Pediatric Anaesthesia. We have forayed into complex surgeries like Airway Surgery, Foetal Interventions, Complex Pediatric Neurosurgery, Oncology, Hepatobiliary Procedures and Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery in the smallest of infants. Our team is ably supported by the Pediatric ICU and Neonatal ICU where these children are housed before they transition to a complete recovery.

The Department is also a recognized training center for the Fellowship in Pediatric Anaesthesia (1 year course) conducted by the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University. Each year we have many anaesthesia trainees rotating in the Operating rooms, other than our 2 fellows all eager to learn Pediatric Anaesthesia from the stalwarts.