Services

Pediatric Anesthesiology

Pediatric anesthesiologists provide complete care for children during surgical and diagnostic procedures.

Children’s Hospital of Georgia
1446 Harper Street BT-2654
Augusta GA 30912

706-721-4672
Preoperative Clinic: 706-721-5229

Pediatric Anesthesiology

Pediatric Anesthesiology

Our Approach

When your child needs a procedure requiring general anesthesia they will be attended to by a pediatric anesthesiologist. Our team performs highly specialized perioperative care for patients having surgery, GI studies, dental work, and radiological/diagnostic procedures from birth to age 21. We work closely with pediatric surgeons who rely on us to monitor and care for these young patients and deliver them safely through their procedures.

When it comes to children, training and expertise in pediatric anesthesiology is essential. Our anesthetists routinely work with children and know how their unique emotional, physiological, developmental stages differ from adult patients.

Pediatric anesthesia physicians/faculty — **Photo:** Left to Right: Judith Handley, MD, Lauren Welsh, MD, Ellen Basile, DO Chief of Division, Ted Weatherred, MD, Ana Mavarez, MD, Ivan Florentino, MD Director, Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia, Heather Byrd, MD, Gustavo Munoz Monaco, MD

Did you know

Pediatric anesthesiologists provide many levels of care to pediatric patients during a surgical or diagnostic procedure. While many believe we simply "put a patient to sleep", we are actually performing a number of other vital services to our patients while asleep. We provide:

Pain relief during surgery
Blood transfusions when necessary
Patient stabilization to maintain vital body functions
Constant monitoring of our patient’s vital signs

…all this while our patients are "sleeping".

Why Choose Us

Our pediatric patients are in the very best of hands. Our team of eight physicians are the only fellowship-trained pediatric anesthesiologists in Augusta's River Region. This means that they have had an additional year of training in caring for children. Fellowship training also ensures that our physicians have double board certification in anesthesiology, as well as pediatric anesthesia with the American Board of Anesthesiology. We offer:

Teamwork: Anesthesiologists work with pediatric surgeons and nurse anesthetists to coordinate care for pediatric surgery patients. We also work closely with pediatric radiology for pediatric anesthesia services during diagnostic procedures.
Highly trained pediatric experts: All of our pediatric anesthesiologists have completed their anesthesia residency and furthered their training by completing a specialized fellowship in pediatric anesthesia. All of our certified nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) are pediatric specialists as well, meaning they only care for pediatric patients.

Pediatric Anesthesia - CRNA team — **Photo:** Left to Right: Elizabeth Gay, CRNA, Alison Brigham, CRNA, Jill Nesley, CRNA, Holly Hefner, CRNA, Holly Holman, CRNA, Angie Hicks, CRNA, and Laurie Yates, CRNA and Chief

Patient-and-Family-Centered Care. Our pediatric patients arrive with their parents, siblings, and even their grandparents on the day of their procedure. We encourage families to be involved while their child is being cared for by us.

Our Services

Be assured that our specially training pediatric anesthesiologists will provide safe and reliable anesthesia based on your child’s specific height and weight. Whether it’s major surgery or anesthesia for radiological procedures or exams, we give them the proper care needed to get them through it.

General Anesthesia

Anesthesia for surgery with intubation involves securing a patient’s airway during surgery. Intubation is the process of inserting an endotracheal tube into the patient’s airway (trachea) a routine practice for pediatric anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists. Many surgeries require this level of care to ensure patient safety while pediatric surgeons perform a procedure. Pediatric anesthesiologists will be there to continuously monitor a patient during surgery, never leaving their side.

Cardiac Anesthesia

Three of our physicians have additional expertise and training in cardiac anesthesia and are called on when patients with congenital heart disease are scheduled for cardiothoracic surgery, or cath-lab procedures. They are also available for any pediatric patient with a congenital heart defect who may require non-cardiac surgery.