AMC Children's Hospital operated on 60,000 severely ill children in 15 years

Asan Medical Center (AMC) Children's Hospital, which celebrates its 15th founding anniversary, said Wednesday that, as of May, it had operated on a cumulative total of about 60,000 children with severe diseases, including pediatric cancer and congenital heart disease, based on the analysis of its treatment records over the years.

Looking at the number of surgeries by specialty, pediatric surgeries, including pediatric cancers, including hepatoblastoma, pediatric liver transplantation, and congenital diaphragmatic hernia, accounted for the largest number of surgeries, with about 19,000.

Pediatric cardiac surgery, including heart transplantation and complex congenital heart dysfunction, and pediatric orthopedic surgery, including congenital limb deformities and severe traumatic fractures, totaled about 10,000 each.

About 7,000 pediatric urology surgeries were performed, including hydronephrosis and bladder ureteral reflux, followed by 5,700 pediatric ophthalmology surgeries, including pediatric cataracts and glaucoma, and 3,600 pediatric neurosurgeries, including brain tumors, craniofacial malformations, and moyamoya disease, according to the hospital.

AMC Children's Hospital provides surgical treatment, pediatric emergency, and pediatric and neonatal intensive care, treating more than 38,000 pediatric emergency patients last year and more than 450,000 in cumulative total.

To provide more systematic treatment for pediatric patients, Asan Medical Center Children's Hospital was the first in Korea to create a pediatric emergency medical center separated from the adult emergency department in 2010. It has been operating as a 24/7 specialized care system. Since its opening, the hospital has never had a single interruption in pediatric emergency care.

AMC Children's Hospital also runs a 29-bed pediatric intensive care unit and a 62-bed neonatal intensive care unit to treat and manage severely ill children.

When the Children's Hospital opened, it established the largest pediatric intensive care unit system in Korea. As it continues to expand, the hospital remains the largest in the country. More than 13,000 patients have been treated in the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units.

In 2021, the hospital pioneered the field of pediatric and neonatal intensive care in Korea, including a very low birth weight premature baby born at 24 weeks and six days of gestation weighing 288 grams, the smallest in the country, who was able to return to his parents' arms in miraculous health after 153 days of round-the-clock intensive care in the NICU.

“Asan Medical Center Children's Hospital has treated the highest number of severely ill children in Korea in many areas, including surgery, emergency and intensive care, performing one in five hematopoietic stem cell transplants in Korea to treat children with childhood cancer and incurable blood diseases, and diagnosing and treating congenital diseases from the pre-delivery stage through the Prenatal Care Center,” said Dr. Ko Tae-sung, president of Asan Medical Center Children's Hospital.

Ko continued, “We also operate a critical pediatric home healthcare team and a pediatric palliative care team to provide continuous treatment, emotional support, care, and counseling for children with severe and critical illnesses. Children's hospitals inevitably face financial difficulties as they operate, but we will continue to fulfill our social responsibility for children's health and the future generations of our country.”