Surgical instruments shrink to fit tiny patients

Orlando Sentinel, October 21, 2008

Spurred on by smaller instruments and wider acceptance by doctors, minimally invasive surgery is now common in children from birth onward. Pediatric surgeons in Orlando, for example, routinely fix complex internal birth defects, drain chest infections, and ease chronic acid reflux with slender instruments and camera views provided through small slits in the skin. And some procedures in children and adolescents, such as appendectomies and gallbladder removal, are almost exclusively done with less-invasive techniques.