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Pediatric Surgery

For appointments and information, please call (212) 746-5648

Nitsana Spigland, MD

Professor of Clinical Surgery
Weill Cornell Medical College

Chief, Pediatric Surgery
Chief, Pediatric Trauma
Attending Surgeon
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical Center

The division of Pediatric Surgery at the Weill Cornell Medical College is a major referral center for complex and rare gastrointestinal disorders in infants and children. Our integral involvement with the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Perinatal Center allows us to counsel, treat and plan the operative correction of the full spectrum of neonatal congenital anomalies in conjunction with our perinatologists and neonatologists while the infant is still in the womb. We have successfully performed surgical procedures on multiple infants with esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula, intestinal atresias, Hirschsprung's disease, choledochal cysts, necrotizing enterocolitis, biliary atresia and imperforate anus. Our esophageal atresia registry is one of the busiest in the state with over 250 active patients which are being followed by our division.

Our experience with colonic and anorectal malformations has culminated in our division being one of the busiest referral centers for complex anorectal malformations. We perform the posterior sagittal anorectoplasty procedure for imperforate anus as well as for primary repair of persistent cloacas and re-do cloacas with referrals from all over the world. We advocate a collaborative team approach and work jointly with our pediatric urologists, pediatric neurosurgeons, pediatric orthopedists and pediatric cardiac surgeons to ensure complete comprehensive care of these anomalies. We also perform primary pull throughs and transanal pull through for Hirschsprung's disease eliminating the need for temporary diverting colostomies.

Our division participates as active members in the Childrens' Oncology Group. We treat children with a variety of gastrointestinal and hepatic and biliary malignancies. In addition to the primary resection of intraabdominal and gastrointestinal tumors we perform hepatic resections and Kasai portoenterostomies for the treatment of biliary atresia.

We treat the full spectrum of gastrointestinal disorders in older children . This includes diagnosis and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease,intestinal motility disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, diverticular diseases in children, hepatobiliary disorders and malrotation.

We have recently launched a new endosurgery program which pioneers advanced laparoscopic and thoracoscopic techniques. Our highly skilled and specially trained endosurgeons have expertise in Single Incision Pediatric Endosurgery as well as other laparoscopic techniques which allow us to treat complex neonatal and pediatric gastrointestinal, esophagaeal and hepatobilary conditions with essentially scarless surgery.

Collaborative Team Approach

Our programs for children integrate the expertise of pediatric anesthesiologists, pediatric radiologists, pediatric gastroenterologists, neonatologists, perinatologists and other surgical subspecialists who work collaboratively to coordinate a fully integrated plan of care. A child friendly pediatric floor, child life program and child friendly operating rooms help smooth the transition for the child's stay in the hospital. We are an integral part of the Phyllis and David Komansky Center for Children's Health which was named to U.S. News and World Report 2009 "America Best Children's Hospital".