The formation of the Department of Pediatric Surgery and the formation of pediatric surgery as a subject of the medical industry for providing surgical care to children in Belarus is associated with the opening of the pediatric faculty at the Minsk State Medical Institute (MGMI).
With the opening of the Faculty of Pediatrics at the Minsk Medical Institute and the introduction of the subject of pediatric surgery into the curriculum of the medical faculty, there was a need for the formation of the Department of Pediatric Surgery.In 1968, at the Department of Hospital Surgery (head of the Department, Associate Professor I. M. Stelmashonok), a docent course on pediatric surgery was created. Associate Professor I. F. Borodin was appointed head of the course, and V. A. Katko, Candidate of Medical Sciences, was chosen as an assistant. The teaching was conducted on the basis of the children's surgical department of the 1st Clinical Hospital (Department of Hospital Surgery), which has 40 beds. The docent course lasted only one year. By this time, the number of academic hours in our subject had doubled, and it became necessary to create a department.
The Department of Pediatric Surgery of the Minsk Medical Institute was organized on July 1, 1969 on the basis of the Order of the Ministry of Health of the BSSR No. 98 and the Order of the Rector of MGMI No. 409 of July 14, 1969 and was formed by Associate Professor I. F. Borodin. He invited to work with the Department of Hospital Surgery assistant S. G. Sedrenka, from the Department of General Surgery-Candidate of Medical Sciences, assistant A. N. Nikiforov.
Since September 1, 1969, the department was headed by the Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor O. S. Misharev, who worked at the Institute of Advanced Training of Doctors at the Department of Surgery.
The center has organized 5 specialized departments: emergency, planned, thoracic, purulent and trauma. The emergency department with 60 beds was opened on December 23, 1969, the trauma department with 50 beds – on January 8, the purulent department with 40 beds – on January 12, the planned department with 50 beds – on January 14, and the thoracic department with 40 beds – on January 23, 1970. The intensive care unit was also established on January 23, 1970. Thus, in January 1970, a multidisciplinary children's surgical institution of national significance was established in Minsk.
The staff of the Children's Surgical Center was tasked with reducing the mortality rate from acute appendicitis, improving the diagnosis and treatment of purulent surgical diseases, congenital malformations, injuries in children, and many other problems.
The mortality rate in acute appendicitis in those years was significant. So, in 1967, 38962 people were operated on for appendicitis in the BSSR, 116 of them died (0.29%). Children under 7 years of age among the deceased were 32, or 27.5%. Reducing mortality required the development of a treatment program for appendicular peritonitis. For this purpose, three stages of treatment of patients with appendicular peritonitis were proposed: preoperative preparation, surgery, and postoperative intensive care. The scope and nature of preoperative preparation were carried out under the supervision of an anesthesiologist. The operation stage included removal of the process and sanitation of the abdominal cavity by washing it with antiseptic solutions (solafur, furagin, furacillin, etc.). Currently, only saline is used for this purpose. The introduction of this technique in the Children's Surgical Center and other medical institutions contributed to a sharp decrease in the number of postoperative complications and a decrease in mortality. The clinic developed a method of early diagnosis and treatment of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis, which contributed to the elimination of mortality and a decrease in the number of disabled children.
Significant progress has been achieved in the treatment of children with congenital malformations of the digestive tract, chest organs, and traumatic injuries. All these developments, made with the direct participation of the department staff, were implemented in all children's surgical departments of the republic and contributed to improving the results of treatment.
Professor O. S. Misharev, who headed the Department of Pediatric Surgery at MGMI and BelGIDUVa for 20 years, paid great attention to the educational process, medical work and science. Through the subordination of the pediatric faculty, about 200 pediatric surgeons and anesthesiologists were trained, who filled the children's surgical departments of regional and city hospitals, and many remained working in the Children's Surgical Center.
The clinic was the only one in the former USSR where open-heart surgery was performed. The staff of the department in its heyday increased from 5 employees to 13, and in connection with the closure of the pediatric faculty (the period of decline) decreased to 7.
In addition to the above-mentioned employees, Associate Professor A. A. Soroka, assistants V. Ya.Bushik, A. I. Sevkovsky, V. V. Troyan, A. E. Kotlyarov, and E. B. Lipen worked at the department.
Since 1990, the department has been headed by Professor V. A. Katko. During this period of time, the main task of the department was to re-equip the clinic with modern equipment, since the old equipment did not allow achieving good results in treating newborns, reducing postoperative complications, and operating on an open heart.
Among the numerous foreign delegations (from America, Canada, Germany, etc.), a sponsor was found in the person of Jutta Schnor and her husband Herbert Schnor, who in Germany created a fund to help the Children's Surgical Center in Minsk and “invested” about 15 million German marks in the reconstruction of the clinic and humanitarian aid.
Thanks to the reconstruction by German specialists, the clinic received four operating rooms equipped with modern equipment with air conditioning, and a modern sterilization room. The new intensive care unit, angiography, sonography and X-ray rooms and much more were equipped with German equipment. After the reconstruction of the clinic, the mortality rate decreased by more than 3 times, the number of postoperative complications significantly decreased, and the quality of treatment of children improved.
In August 1969, the Department of Pediatric Surgery was organized in connection with the introduction of teaching pediatric surgery at the medical Faculty of MGMI. Assistants S. G. Sedrenok and Ph. D. A. N. Nikiorov were invited to the department.
For 4 months, the department operated on the basis of the 1st and 5th clinical hospitals in Minsk. With the opening of the Children's Surgery Center (CHC) with 240 beds in the 1st clinical hospital of Minsk in December 1969, a department consisting of 5 employees began to work on its basis, which is still functioning here today.
In the period of 1979-1988, due to an increase in the number of students at MGMI, the department's staff increased from 5 to 13 employees, but later, due to the closure of the pediatric faculty, it decreased to 7.
In different years at the department worked Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences S. G. Sedrenok, Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences A. A. Soroka, Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences V. N. Alkhimovich, assistants: Candidate of Medical Sciences V. Ya. Bushik, Candidate of Medical Sciences V. V. Troyan, Candidate of Medical Sciences A. I. Sevkovsky, A. E. Kotlyarov, E. B. Lipen. The laboratory studied the issues of hemodynamics, homeostasis, water-electrolyte balance, carbohydrate-energy metabolism, etc. All these problems were developed and studied on clinical material.
Based on the obtained data, the treatment of children with purulent-inflammatory diseases was corrected. The laboratory functioned until 1998. In the laboratory there were 5 groups:
- for the study of hemodynamics (resp. Spanish – senior researcher, PhD V. N. Erincin);
- water-electrolyte metabolism (senior researcher, Ph. D. V. M. Mo-in);
- carbohydrate and energy metabolism (senior researcher, candidate of biological.n. F. N. Solodovnikova);
- acid-base state and blood gases (st. n. s., Ph. D. V. Ya. Balakliev-skaya);
- kidney function (M. N. S. E. S. Krzechkovskaya).
Later, the laboratory included a group for the study of homeostasis (V. V. Dmitriev, Ph. D., PhD).
Since 1982, the laboratory was headed by V. N. Arinchin, Ph. D., and since 1990, Professor V. A. Katko became the scientific director.
The laboratory, headed first by Candidate of Medical Sciences V. Ya. Bushik, and then by Doctor of Medical Sciences V. N. Arinchin, became the scientific center of the department, where most of the dissertations were completed (closed in 1998 due to lack of funding).
The main feature of the laboratory was the applied nature of scientific research, so almost all the scientific developments of the laboratory were introduced into the medical practice not only of the Central House of Artists, but also of other medical and preventive institutions of Belarus and the former USSR.
The laboratory staff published more than 400 scientific papers, received more than 30 innovation proposals, 6 copyright certificates for inventions, defended 7 candidate and 2 doctoral dissertations (V. N. Arinchin, V. V. Dmitriev). In 1998, due to lack of funding, the laboratory was disbanded.
The operating unit, the intensive care unit, the emergency department, and the X-ray rooms were reconstructed and equipped with modern equipment, which significantly increased the efficiency of medical care and reduced the mortality rate of children with surgical diseases by 3 times.
In 1990-2002, the department was headed by Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences V. A. Katko, who, thanks to international contacts, took an active part in the re-equipment of the Central House of Artists. Employees of the department had the opportunity to train in pediatric surgery clinics in Germany, the USA, Ireland, Japan, Austria, etc.
Since 2002, the Department of Pediatric Surgery is headed by Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences V. I. Averin. Currently, the department employs Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences V. I. Averin, Professor, Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences V. M. Cherevko, Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences Yu. G. Degtyarev, Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences A. I. Sevkovsky, Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences Khomich V. M., Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences Voronetsky A. N., Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences Kolesnikov E. M., Assistant Rustamov V. M.
The department trains students of the pediatric, medical, military medical faculties and the medical faculty of foreign students. More than 50 doctors who are currently successfully working in the Republic of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Sweden, and Nepal have been trained in clinical residency and postgraduate studies at the Department of Pediatric Surgery.