K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital Pediatric Urology Expands Robotic Surgery Program

Pediatric urologists offer minimally invasive surgical options for complex procedures in children

Kristin Kozakowski, M.D., and Aylin Bilgutay, M.D., pediatric urologists at K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, recently completed their latest robotic surgeries, a robotic pyeloplasty for a prenatally diagnosed ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction on a 6-month-old girl and a complex ureteral reimplant for an obstructed megaureter in a 10-year-old boy.

Since joining the hospital in 2019, Drs. Kozakowski and Bilgutay have steadily built the robotic surgery program. They are now offering minimally invasive surgical options for children as young as infants and for complex urologic reconstructive procedures which have traditionally been performed via open surgery. The main advantages of robotic surgery include shorter postoperative stays, non-opioid pain control, and a much quicker return to normal activity. These procedures are typically performed in the hospital’s ambulatory surgery center.

“Being able to perform these surgeries in a minimally invasive way helps reduce pain and recovery time,” said Dr. Kozakowski. “Expanding our robotic surgical capabilities helps our patients heal more quickly so they can get back to being a kid.”

The pediatric urology program at K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital is part of the largest pediatric robotic surgery program in New Jersey. Hackensack Meridian Children’s Health’s team of pediatric urologists perform more than 1,000 surgeries each year, with an ever increasing number of these cases being performed with minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic approaches.

Learn more about our advancements in pediatric urology.