Dr. Raghul M
M.Ch (Gold Medalist) • Pediatric Surgeon & Pediatric Urologist
When parents are told that their infant or toddler requires surgery, their immediate question is often: 'Doctor, our baby is so small—how could laparoscopy possibly be done on such a tiny body? Isn't keyhole surgery only for adults?' This hesitation is entirely intuitive, as adult laparoscopy often evokes images of large trocars and bulky mechanical instruments.
In pediatric surgery, however, laparoscopy (in the abdomen) and thoracoscopy (in the chest) are not only entirely feasible—they are the gold standard of care across many conditions. Minimally invasive surgery is routinely and safely performed on children of all ages, starting from newborns just hours old all the way to eighteen-year-old adolescents.
Dr. Raghul M
@dr_raghul_maniam • Clinical Reel
Minimally Invasive Surgery in Children: Feasibility of 3mm Laparoscopy and Thoracoscopy in Infants
Click to watch reel
The secret to safe neonatal and pediatric laparoscopy lies in specialized, miniaturized instrumentation engineered specifically for compact pediatric anatomy. Pediatric surgeons do not use adult-sized 10-millimeter or 12-millimeter ports. Instead, we utilize ultra-fine 3-millimeter trocars and micro-instruments, paired with high-definition optical pediatric telescopes.
These delicate instruments allow the surgeon to maneuver within the compact abdominal or thoracic space with extraordinary visual clarity. High-definition magnification enlarges microscopic blood vessels and tissue planes, allowing for dissection that is significantly more precise and gentle than open surgery with human fingers.
Decades of robust international clinical evidence have established that laparoscopic and thoracoscopic repairs achieve therapeutic results fully equivalent or superior to traditional open surgery. We routinely correct congenital inguinal hernias (via PIRS keyhole ligation), pyloric stenosis, undescended impalpable testes, appendicitis, and chest empyema using minimally invasive techniques.
The benefits for a growing child are immense: cutting through developing abdominal and chest wall muscles is avoided, reducing the risk of long-term musculoskeletal asymmetry or scoliosis. Post-operative pain is minimal, infection rates are dramatically reduced, hospital stays are measured in hours rather than days, and the resulting scars are virtually invisible as the child grows.
Further clinical guidance, parent guides, and surgical monographs curated by Dr. Raghul M.
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