Any serious illness that befalls a child causes enormous emotional and physical strain, both for the child and the family. Neurosurgical problems in the pediatric age group are often difficult and complex. The Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) Pediatric Neurosurgery Program provides individualized care for infants to young adults and encompasses the full range of neurosurgical disorders affecting a child’s brain or spinal cord. Dr. Michael Edwards at Stanford leads the dedicated pediatric team consisting of neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists and specialized nurses. In 2009, LPCH was ranked by U.S. News and World Reports as the best pediatric hospital in the Bay Area for neurosurgery and amongst the top 10 institutions overall, nationally. Due to the neurosurgery team’s clinical expertise, integration with neuroscientists and professional support from an array of family centered specialists like pediatric therapists, on-site child education and recreation therapy, the Pediatric Neurosurgery program at Stanford has earned a national reputation for delivering the highest standard of family-focused care.

Pioneering work in new minimally invasive neurosurgery techniques such as neuroendoscopy, sophisticated image guidance, intraoperative imaging techniques, supported by cutting edge technology including the advanced 3-Tesla MRI scanner allowing detailed fiber tract mapping and imaging of critical functions (the only facility of its kind in Northern California) gives the program an advantage in efficiency of diagnosis and in developing lower risk surgical treatments. The newly established Ford Family Surgery Center at LPCH is the most advanced surgical facility in the country, designed exclusively for pediatrics, allowing the pediatric neurosurgical team to tackle even the most formidable of diseases and conditions

Courtesy of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

This new operating room is one of seven equipped with the latest imaging and communications technologies.