Minimally Invasive and Robotic Pediatric Surgery

Dear Colleagues, 

Pediatric minimally invasive surgery has increasingly become important in clinical practice to the point that endoscopic and minimally invasive techniques have a permanent collocation in the pediatric surgery unit. In fact, they emphasize the role of the pediatric surgeon in such a way as to leave the smallest scar on the patient.

Minimally invasive surgery has to be considered a philosophy of life that does not exclude traditional surgery, but recognizes the decisive contribution of new approaches, such as laparoscopy, thoracoscopy, retroperitoneoscopy, and recently robot-assisted surgery. As a matter of fact, the introduction of robot-assistance in pediatric surgery has represented an instrumental innovation. Thus, innovations in minimally invasive surgery need to be reported and validated. Furthermore, the development of new minimally invasive approaches requires a change in the modalities of training in pediatric surgery. Nevertheless, there still are many unsolved questions, for instance, the usefulness, safety, and indications of robot-assisted techniques on children. These aspects, through original research studies, need to be clarified

Our goal is to create a starting point for future studies, research, and technical developments, offering both young and experienced pediatric surgeons a comprehensive Special Issue and an updated review of this rapidly changing field. This Special Issue also represents a great opportunity to gather some of the most expert pediatric surgeons from different geographical areas, mainly Europe and North America. Their involvement will allow them to share different points of view and vary technical peculiarities. We also hope to incite young pediatric surgeons to show, through a scientific article, their original ideas.

Prof. Dr. Mario Lima
Guest Editor

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• laparoscopy
• thoracoscopy
• retroperitoneoscopy
• robotic surgery
• pediatric endoscopic surgery