Publisher's Synopsis
A comprehensive reference work on all aspects of neonatal surgery - the surgery of infants in the first month of life. All aspects of neonatal surgery are covered with the exception of cardiac, orthopaedic and ophthalmic surgery. The book considers the implications of advances in prenatal diagnosis and foetal surgery for the paediatric surgeon. With recent developments in prenatal diagnosis and in neonatal care generally, the spectrum of neonatal surgical disease has changed significantly. While there has been a decline in conditions such as spina bifida, with the increase of low birth weight babies, there has been an increase in inguinal hernias and hydrocephalus. Major reconstructive surgery is now being done earlier; and virtually every surgical condition can now be diagnosed antenatally, leading to a major increase in the neonatal surgeon's role in prenatal counselling. Finally, although still largely experimental, there have been developments in the area of direct foetal surgery.
