My child was in an accident and had to have surgery to repair some broken bones. I requested that the surgeon who repaired my broken leg do it, but he said that it has to be an pediatric orthopedic surgeon. Other than one operating on adults and the other on children, what’s the difference?

Orthopedic surgeons are specialists in repairing bones, as you already know. However, depending on the types of patients they see, their expertise within orthopedics varies. The problems that children may encounter are different than that of adults. For example, children still have growing bones, so this must be taken into account when a doctor is operating on the bone.

For younger children, the equipment a surgeon may use may be a different size and approaches to the surgical area may be different. By staying within their realm of expertise, the surgeons give their patients a better chance at a successful surgical outcome.