January 23, 2023 – When your child needs to undergo surgery, it can be a frightening time for the whole family. Whether they are a delicate newborn or a hearty teenager, and need either a minor outpatient surgical procedure or a major life-saving surgery, you want to find a skilled and experienced surgeon to help them.
Dr. Avraham Schlager, MD is an experienced pediatric surgeon at West Boca Medical Center who is skilled in a wide variety of procedures, from complex minimally-invasive surgeries on newborns to inflammatory bowel surgeries that help teenagers live happier, more comfortable lives. He also performs oncologic surgery for childhood malignancy, thyroid surgery, and many other surgical procedures. Though orthopedic surgeons see the bulk of injured young athletes, he treats sports-related injuries like lacerated livers, punctured lungs, and ruptured spleens.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, Dr. Schlager has noticed that some parents are hesitant to bring their child in to undergo elective surgery.
“It’s always much easier to treat a medical issue in its earliest stages, rather than ignoring it or putting off treatment and having the potential for the problem to worsen,” Dr. Schlager explained. “If a child has symptoms that don’t resolve quickly, it’s important to have them checked. If there isn’t a serious, underlying cause, everyone will have peace of mind. If the child requires surgery, it’s better to do so when they are globally healthy. If down the road, they get COVID and haven’t treated the preexisting issue, it could exacerbate it and make surgery more complicated. Our goal is to do our best to control the elements we can.”
One of Dr. Schlager’s specialties is advanced minimally invasive surgery. He’s a large proponent of this type of procedure because of the excellent outcomes he sees.
“Minimally invasive surgery offers so many benefits to my pediatric patients. The smaller incisions are much less traumatic, resulting in less pain, a lower infection rate, reduced anxiety, and much less dramatic scarring, which is especially important to the young people I operate on,” said Dr. Schlager.
Dr. Schlager is proud to have joined the West Boca Medical Center staff last year. He admires the leaders of this hospital and their goal to continue building an impressive pediatric program, while also taking part in the collaboration that exists between West Boca Medical Center and their sister children’s hospital in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Children’s Hospital at St. Mary’s Medical Center.
Dr. Schlager works alongside West Boca Medical Center’s multidisciplinary team of pediatric sub-specialists, in-house pediatricians, and board-certified Pediatric Anesthesiologists who are all specially trained to care for children’s unique needs. In addition, West Boca Medical Center offers a 24-hour dedicated Pediatric Emergency Room, a pediatric same-day surgery center, and pediatric inpatient rooms.
“No other hospital system in the county offers a host of pediatric services that is this complete,” Dr. Schlager described. “And the staff is so good-natured and happy to serve their community.”When asked why he chose to be a pediatric surgeon, Dr. Schlager replied, “It is so rewarding to help a sick or injured child get better. There are no words to describe the happiness of seeing that child and his or her parents’ smile again!”
To learn more about the pediatric surgery services offered at West Boca Medical Center, please visit westbocamedctr.com
