Department of Surgery

The Department of Surgery of the University Children’s Hospital Zurich is a centre of surgery for children: from newborn babies through infancy to adolescence. The unit manages the full spectrum of paediatrics surgery including traumatology, ORL and orthopaedics. Recently, the University Children’s Hospital Zurich has also been able to provide comprehensive medical services for infants and children requiring heart transplants.

The department offers a special care unit for children with burn-related injuries as well as an outpatient clinic. In addition to the traumatology outpatient clinic, ten special consultation hours are available daily. A day surgery unit is affiliated to the Department of Surgery.

A Specialist for each medical problem

University Children’s Hospital Zurich employs highly qualified specialists in the fields of newborn surgery, visceral surgery (lungs and abdominal viscus including minimally invasive surgery), tumour surgery, urology (kidneys and urinary tracts revulsion), treatment of burn related injuries, plastic and reconstructive surgery, hand surgery, orthopaedics (skeletal surgery), neurosurgery, ORL (ear, nose and throat illnesses) as well as traumatology (injuries caused by accidents). Various types of lasers are used in the treatment of haemangiomas and other dermatological illnesses. A close collaboration is maintained with the interdisciplinary Emergency Unit and the Intensive Care Unit.

A highly experienced nursing team

Thanks to a dedicated nursing team and competent therapists, our patients receive compassionate care and the best treatment possible. Both nursing specialists and therapists are an integral part of various health care teams.

A close interdisciplinary collaboration

Due to the extraordinary multifaceted nature of paediatrics surgery, we collaborate closely with other surgical disciplines provided by the Department of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the Department of Neurosurgery at the University Hospital Zurich as well as the Department of Orthopaedics at the University Hospital Balgrist.

Within the Division of Anaesthesiology, an expert specialist team is dedicated to performing anaesthesia procedures on children. These physicians and nurses also master the expertise of analgesia, which deals with the elimination of pain. Besides offering the complete range of general diagnostics, the Division of Diagnostic Radiology conducts Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The Rehabilitation Centre in Affoltern am Albis, an extension of University Children’s Hospital Zurich, provides the optimal infrastructure for rehabilitating our patients.

Research

The surgical department of Children’s Hospital Zurich has its own research unit which is active in the field of “tissue engineering”. In addition, a laboratory for fetal surgery has been set up in cooperation with the Central Laboratory Services of Biology.