Just five years ago, a child that suffered damage to brachial plexus nerves, the nerves that pass signals between the brain, hand and arm, would have been hard pressed to recover fully because surgical techniques couldn’t provide a fix without pulling nerves from another part of the body, leaving a numb spot. 

Now a new surgery pioneered at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital is offering hope to these kids through a revolutionary process that cuts the ends off the damaged nerves and attaches them to healthy but lightly taxed nerves allowing a child to recover some, if not all, movement.

Dr. Armen Ketchedjian, author of the book Will it Hurt? A Parent’s Practical Guide to Children’s Surgery, says that parents of children in need of surgery are often drawn to new surgical techniques in the hope of finding a way to help their child. He recommends parents find trusted sources of information and ask the advice of their child’s doctor prior to making a major decision about treatment. 

“Surgeons are able to do wonderful things to help children heal,” says Dr. Ketch, as he is known to his patients. “But parents should understand that new surgeries are but one option that they need to explore when their child has been injured.”

In his book, Dr. Ketch recommends that parents interested in finding a new surgeon or exploring a new surgical technique follow a simple guidelines first, including:

• Visit the medical facility where a prospective surgeon works to see if it is child friendly

• Find trusted medical journals that may have information about a new procedure

• Ask other parents whose children have undergone the same surgery

• Find any support group that may have information for parents whose children have a specific birth defect or injury

“The more parents know the better off they’ll be,” says Dr. Ketch. “New technologies and procedures are being developed all the time, so parents have a lot to learn in a short amount of time following a child’s injury.”

Unfortunately parents are often the ones managing a child’s medical portfolio and scouting for new treatments, according to Dr. Ketch, who says, ““Unfortunately, because of the hectic pace and complexity of the modern healthcare landscape, parents are sometimes in a better position to keep track of their child’s treatment and care better than physicians.”

Will it Hurt? helps educate parents about pediatric surgery. It is an easy-to-read resource that will give you, your child and your family the help and reassurance you need to make the 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 also 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.

Via EPR Network
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