Surgical interventions in children in need of palliative care. The experience of the Morozov Children’s Hospital

Introduction. The article presents a retrospective single-center, observational study devoted to the analysis of surgical interventions in children in need of palliative care and who were in the Morozov Children’s Clinical Hospital for the period from 2015 to 2022. Purpose. To assess the range and indications for surgical interventions in children when providing primary medical care in a multidisciplinary children’s clinic. Materials and methods. The analysis of 2,081 case histories, 1,058 cases of hospitalization in 943 patients, who underwent 1,118 surgical interventions, was carried out. 175 patients (18.5%) underwent multiple surgeries. Results. The largest group consisted of patients with diseases of the nervous system (40%), malignant neoplasms (30%) and congenital anomalies (21%). Soft tissue surgeries prevailed in the structure of surgical interventions (25%); gastrostomy, tracheostomy, CSF bypass surgery 17% (51%) each. Conclusion. Surgical interventions in palliative patients are feasible, the spectrum depends on nosology, and are aimed mainly at improving the quality of life.