Advanced Surgical Oncology Care

Modern advances in surgery and other cancer treatments mean more children survive cancer than ever before.

At Cincinnati Children’s, you’ll find every available surgical option—along with services that enhance surgery safety and effectiveness.

Minimally Invasive Cancer Surgery Options

With cancer surgery, we aim to remove as much of your child’s tumor as we can while using the least invasive technique possible. These less-invasive techniques often are referred to as “minimally invasive surgery.”

What is Minimally Invasive Surgery?

Traditional surgery often requires large incisions (cuts) through skin, muscle and other tissue. After surgery, it takes time for these incisions to heal—and the healing process can be painful.

In some cases, traditional surgery is the best option for removing tumors. But whenever it’s feasible to do so, our cancer surgeons use a minimally invasive approach that may also include robotic technology that enhances precision.

Minimally invasive approaches let us access tumors using much smaller incisions. We use tiny surgical tools and special cameras that let us see inside the body during surgery. And we have surgical equipment designed especially for children’s small bodies.

Benefits of Minimally Invasive Surgery

Minimally invasive techniques offer many potential benefits, including:

• Less blood loss during surgery (reducing the need for a blood transfusion)
• A lower risk of complications after surgery, such as an infection or bleeding from your child’s wound
• A shorter hospital stay and faster overall recovery
• Less pain after surgery (reducing the need for pain medication)
• Smaller, less noticeable scars

A National Leader in Pediatric Cancer Procedures

Cincinnati Children’s is nationally recognized for its expertise in certain complex procedures that treat cancer or enhance cancer treatment. These include:

• Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC). This is a two-part procedure for certain cancers that have spread to the peritoneum (tissue lining the abdominal cavity). First, we remove the tumor. Then, we deliver heated chemotherapy into the peritoneum through a catheter (thin, flexible tube). We’re one of the few hospitals in the United States that routinely performs HIPEC in children, teens and young adults.
• Fluorescence-guided surgery. With this special imaging technique, we can “light up” tumors that aren’t easily visible. We’ll give your child a contrast agent (nontoxic liquid dye) that causes their tumor to glow. This helps us see the precise size, shape and location of their tumor and gives us the best chance of removing all the tumor.
• Limb-sparing surgery. Here at Cincinnati Children’s, limb amputation is rarely used to treat sarcomas (cancers that grow in the bones, joints and muscles). Our surgeons use advanced techniques that, in many cases, allow them to remove sarcomas without removing the affected limb. These techniques also help preserve limb function.
• Liver transplantation. For some children with liver cancer, a liver transplant is the best treatment option. During this procedure, we replace the diseased liver with a healthy donor liver. Our success rates for pediatric liver transplant consistently exceed the national average—and the median wait time for a new liver at Cincinnati Children’s is much shorter than the national average.