Telemedicine in pediatric surgery.

Telemedicine is a new academic specialty at the crossroads of medical informatics whose potential is still largely untapped by pediatric surgeons. Telemedicine aims to alleviate travel concerns associated with the delivery of health care, to bring expert pediatric surgeons to areas where currently none exist, and to improve coordination between pediatric surgeons, transcending all barriers. Today, it is possible to transmit all digitized data--roentgenograms, echocardiograms, radiologic images, intraoperative photographs, histologic images, etc., and to consult specific experts in the subspecialties of childcare. It is possible to train and guide surgical trainees by experts without their physical presence. In the future, telemedicine will constitute an integral part of the health care of children and the training of pediatric surgeons.