Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Services

Whether you or your child is experiencing common issues like painful menstrual cycles or more rare conditions affecting reproductive organs, we can help. We care for patients throughout their lives, starting at birth and continuing through childhood and teenage years into adulthood. Whether you’re dealing with common or complex issues, our first goal is to make you feel safe and comfortable.

Pediatric and adolescent gynecology services we offer

At Children’s Hospital Colorado, you or your child has access to the most complete medical and surgical gynecological services possible. We provide routine care through our Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Clinics, with locations at Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, South Campus in Highlands Ranch, North Campus in Broomfield and our Outpatient Clinic in Parker. We also work with our specialists in different departments at Children’s Colorado to provide more complex and complete gynecological care in one place.

We also offer educational opportunities for all those interested. By educating kids, adolescents and their families, we help remove some of the stigmas that may be associated with gynecology. Creating a safe environment for you or your child to ask questions is the first step toward understanding any gynecological condition.

Some of our educational and medical services include:

• Preventive reproductive health guidance, counseling and screening
• Total gynecological care throughout the reproductive lifespan with providers who can care for adolescents as they enter adulthood, maintaining the same close patient-doctor relationship
• Evaluation and treatment for gynecological conditions including heavy and irregular menstrual bleeding, painful menstrual cycles and endometriosis, vulvovaginal conditions and genital trauma
• Surgery for conditions such as ovarian torsion, ovarian cysts and masses, vulvar and vaginal conditions, undiagnosed pelvic pain and congenital anomalies (irregularities that exist at birth)
• Surgical consultation and multidisciplinary care with children’s surgical specialists in pediatric urology, pediatric surgery and colorectal surgery
• Specialized pediatric and adolescent gynecology clinics for children and teens with reproductive health concerns in cancer and blood disorders, fertility preservation, special care, pain management, endocrinology for children with disorders of sexual development (DSD) and polycystic ovarian syndrome

Pediatric and adolescent gynecology tests and procedures

Discussions between you or your child and their doctor are always private, but sometimes in pediatric gynecology, we deal with sensitive issues. Not only does the nature of our care require a special level of trust and sensitivity but we also work with children, which requires a higher level of empathy and understanding. We’ve taken all these factors into account when designing our pediatric gynecology tests and procedures.

Pediatric gynecology tests

The goal of performing tests and exams is to reach an accurate and timely diagnosis. We also strive to reduce the number of tests and exams to help reduce anxiety and protect your privacy. If you or your child suspects something may be wrong, we always start with a discussion to understand the symptoms and perform a thorough medical history review. Once we understand the symptoms and medical history, we may continue with some of the following tests:

• Physical exam: This is a simple visual inspection that consists of looking at the external genital area. A physical exam allows us to diagnose more common conditions such as labial adhesions or vulvovaginitis.
• Blood test: A blood test helps us identify issues such as an elevated white blood count or decreased red blood cell count, which may be a sign of infection or anemia.
• Urine test: This allows us to test for urinary tract infections, which can cause pelvic pain. Pelvic pain is a sign of numerous gynecological conditions, so this helps us narrow down a diagnosis.
• Testing for sexually transmitted infections (STI), sexually transmitted diseases (STD): If we discover in our initial discussion that the patient is sexually active, we use STI/STD tests to identify any infection they may have.
• Imaging tests: We perform imaging tests such as ultrasounds and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These tests provide non-invasive, accurate way to help diagnose conditions that affect the internal reproductive system. An ultrasound, which uses high-frequency sound waves, can produce detailed images of internal structures by simply moving a probe along the outside of the abdomen or pelvis. An MRI uses magnets to produce detailed images of the body’s organs and structures. During an MRI, the patient lies down and remains still as it scans the body. Our pediatric radiologists have a wealth of experience and training reading images so they know exactly what to look for. Because we’re the premiere children’s hospital in our region, our radiology team sees a large number of both common and rare conditions, which makes them extremely important in helping us accurately diagnose conditions.

Pediatric and adolescent gynecology procedures

As with testing, our procedures are minimally invasive, which means we use the best technology available to see issues inside the body without having to perform major surgery. In addition to using imaging devices such as ultrasounds and MRIs, we also use very small cameras to see inside the body without having to make large incisions.

Learn about one of the most common gynecological procedures:

• Laparoscopy: This minimally invasive procedure allows surgeons to look inside the body at the abdominal and pelvic organs using a small camera. While under general anesthesia, which keeps the patient asleep during the procedure, our surgeon makes a small incision and uses the camera to get a detailed, live view of the internal organs. Diagnostic laparoscopy allows us to make a definitive diagnosis of serious conditions without making a large incision.

We also use laparoscopy to perform surgery using the small camera to help guide the surgeon. The surgeon inserts the camera and small tools through very small incisions about 5mm long. As with diagnostic laparoscopy, we use general anesthesia to keep the patient asleep during surgery, so they won’t feel any pain or have any memory of the procedure.

We can perform surgery for a range of conditions using this minimally invasive approach, which helps lessen scarring, reduce the chance of infection and decrease recovery time. We commonly use laparoscopic surgery to treat gynecological conditions such as ovarian torsion, endometriosis, acute and chronic pelvic pain and congenital anomalies of the reproductive tract. In most cases, these are outpatient surgeries that don’t require an overnight stay.

• Laparoscopic cystectomy: A type of laparoscopic surgery, we use this minimally invasive procedure to remove a cyst (fluid-filled sac) from inside the body. In gynecology, we typically find cysts located within the ovaries or adjacent to the fallopian tube, which are called ovarian cysts and paratubal cysts, respectively. For a laparoscopic cystectomy, the surgeon makes three small incisions that are about 5mm in length. The surgeon then places a very small camera through one incision and two specialized tools through the other incisions. They use the tools to carefully remove the cyst. By using the laparoscopic approach, our surgeons can make precision cuts that help them preserve the healthy ovarian tissue to maximize future reproductive potential.

Pediatric and adolescent gynecology procedure outcomes

As one of the largest pediatric and adolescent gynecology teams in the nation, we care for many children, teens and young adults with gynecological conditions from all over our region.

This large volume provides us with a depth of experience that leads to some of the best outcomes in the country.