What is Orthopedics? What does a Pediatric orthopedic do?
Dr. Deepak Agrawal: The word Orthopedics is derived from “Ortho” meaning crooked and “Pedia’ meaning child. So we deal with children
less than 16 years of age – Pediatric Orthopedics deal with children’s fractures, paralytic conditions, spastic kids, cerebral palsy becomes a big part of our treatment repertoire, tumors, deformities and growth related issues. So if you have crooked limbs, I can straighten them for you, short limbs, I can make them longer, we can make a limb shorter, birth defect reconstruction like a dislocated hip, an absent thumb,missing bone, so we can reconstruct it and give better functioning, better life.”
‘Pediatric’ Orthopedics is fascinating because in the first 16 years of life you are evolving with time. Once you are an adult, your structure and form are fixed: If it’s broken you fix it if it’s damaged you replace it.
What do you enjoy most about your job as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon?
I love my job. I have passion for well-being and I honestly cannot see myself doing anything else as a career.
Orthopedic Surgery Procedures
- Arthroscopy- a procedure using a camera to visualize inside the joint
- Fusion- a procedure using rods or internal devices in which bones are fused together
- Internal Fixation – a procedure used to hold broken pieces of bone together with either plates, screws or pins
- Joint replacement – a damaged joint is removed and replaced by a artificial joint either partial, total or revision
- Osteotomy- the correction of bone deformity by cutting and repositioning the bone
- Soft tissue repair- repair of tendons or ligaments