A pediatric orthopaedist is the best-trained and most experienced doctor to properly evaluate and treat musculoskeletal (bone, joint, or muscle) problems in a child who is still growing. This includes newborn babies through teenagers. If your child has musculoskeletal (bone) problems, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon has the experience and qualifications to treat your child properly.

Most importantly children are not just small adults. They cannot always say what is bothering them. They cannot always answer medical questions, and are not always able to be patient and cooperative during a medical examination. Pediatric orthopedic surgeons know how to examine and treat children in a way that makes them relaxed  and cooperative. In addition, pediatric orthopedic surgeons often use equipment specially designed for children. Most pediatric orthopedic surgeons’ offices are arranged and decorated with children in mind. This includes the examination rooms and waiting rooms, which may have toys, videos, and reading materials  for children. This helps create a comfortable and nonthreatening environment  for your child. 

If your pediatrician suggests that your child see a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, you can be assured that he or she has the widest range of treatment options, the most extensive and comprehensive training, and the greatest expertise in dealing  with children and in treating children’s orthopedic disorders.

Pediatric orthopedic surgeons are medical doctors who have done the following;

• Graduated from an approved medical school   
• Graduated from an approved orthopedic surgery residency program   
• Completed additional subspecialty training in pediatric orthopedics 

As a board certified pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Brown is specialized to treat your child or adolescent due to his extensive schooling and years of experience specifically treating some of the most difficult pediatric orthopedic cases.

Pediatric orthopaedic surgeons choose to make the care of children the focus of their medical practice. They learn the unique nature of medical and surgical care of children from both advanced training and real-world experience in practice.  

Your children are still growing and that means that their growth plates are still active. You need a specialist that only treats children, and not adults, to insure bone growth is not impacted during their formative years. 

A child's musculoskeletal problems are different than those of an adult.  Because children are still growing, the body's response to an injury, infection, or deformity may be quite different than that of a fully-grown person.  Sometimes, what is thought to be a problem in a child is just a variation of growth that will go away on its own with time. A good example of this is intoeing in a toddler. There are many problems that are unique to the growing body and are not found in adults.

A pediatric orthopedic surgeon pushes a metal pin through the skin and into the fractured bone during a percutaneous pinning. One end of the pin will protrude outside of the skin, and the other side stays in the bone.  This technique holds the fracture or broken bone together and keeps it immobilized until it heals. The number of pins varies and will depend upon the severity of the fracture. 

Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis, or SCFE, occurs when a child’s hip (the top part of the femur, or ball of the ball and socket joint of the hip) slips through the growth plate.  It's similar to an ice cream scoop falling off of an ice cream cone.  This condition can happen over time, or can be the result of an acute injury. 

A fracture is a medical term for a broken bone. There is no difference and they mean the same thing. 

Some fractures like growth plate fractures, are not able to be seen on x-ray until new bone has formed a few weeks after the fracture heals. A pediatric orthopedist can detect fractures in your child if there is localized pain, tenderness, & swelling even without a fracture showing on the x-ray. 

Add an answer to this item.