International

General paediatrics cares for children of all ages from birth to adulthood. We focus on infectious diseases, pulmonary diseases, diabetes, endocrinological disorders, and immunological and allergic diseases. We also treat all other acute conditions that occur in children and adolescents. The department has three wards with parent-child units. The costs for an accompanying person is paid until school age (6-7 years). The costs for elder children may have to be paid by parents themselves. During periods of high utilization the capacities for accompanying persons may be limited.

Our pecialties include

• Paediatric Pneumology and Allergology: Entire spectrum of paediatric pulmonary illnesses and allergies including Neonatal pulmonary disease, Congenital lung defects, Asthma, Cystic fibrosis, Chronic bronchitis, Interstitial pulmonary disease, Tuberculosis, Sleep disorders, Neurological and muscular diseases with respiratory insufficiency
• Paediatric Diabetology: The Paediatric Diabetology Department cares for diabetic children and adolescents in a multidisciplinary framework. We treat the initial manifestations of diabetes and educate and train patients and their families.
• Paediatric Endocrinology:  Diagnosis and treatment of hormone-induced dysfunctions (diseases of the pituitary gland, thyroid, adrenal glands, parathyroid and gonads, and vitamin D and carbohydrate metabolism), e.g. newborns, children and adolescents with dysfunctions of sex differentiation, growth (microsomia or macrosomia), pubescent development (delayed or premature sexual maturity) or with hormone-induced changes in body weight
• Paediatric Nephrology: The Department offers diagnostic services for voiding disorders (bedwetting/enuresis) and reoccurring urinary tract infections. We care and treat patients with neurogenic disorders of voiding the bladder and spina bifida patients (myelomeningocele).
• Neuropaediatrics: The Department of Neuropaediatrics provides comprehensive neurological care to patients with epilepsy, muscular diseases, developmental retardations and MMC.  The department also focuses on patients with multiple disabilities undergoing treatment in other departments.

Each year our team cares for about 900 patients in the Intensive Care Unit at Altona Children’s Hospital, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the Altona Perinatal Centre (PNZ) and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Albertinen Hospital (NIA).

Our department offers comprehensive services for all critical illnesses and conditions requiring intensive care, and treats patients of all ages from very premature infants to adolescents. Our successful and compassionate approach to this highly specialised branch of medicine relies on close collaboration with other departments at Altona Children’s Hospital and the obstetric clinics in Altona General Hospital and Albertine Hospital. We seek to provide comprehensive care for seriously ill children while involving their families in the process to the greatest extent possible.

Our Orthopaedic Department is a supra-regional centre for paediatric orthopaedics. Our department has an excellent reputation in the spinal surgery field, and is renown in particular for its expertise in treating scoliosis without fusion. Reconstructing extremities via modern fixation procedures has been one of our main areas of activity for a number of years now. Furthermore we provide the entire spectrum of paediatric orthopaedic care. This includes:

• treating injuries and the results of injuries
• correcting angular deformities, differences in leg length and spinal column deformities
• therapy for neuromuscular diseases (cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular disorders) and congenital deformities (hip dysplasia, clubfoot)
• treatment of tumours in the musculoskeletal system
• comprehensive care of sport injuries
• “gait analysis”, an analysis method which can be applied before surgery for neuromuscular disorders
• Osteogenesis imperfecta
• inpatient post-operative rehabilitation in cooperation with the VAMED Klinik Geesthacht

Our department provides highest quality surgical care for patients with childhood deformities of the spinal column or complications resulting from these deformities (spina bifida, tethered cord, stenosis of the craniocervical transition, Chiari-malformations, syringomyelia, Klippel Feil syndrome etc.). We collaborate closely with the departments of Neuropaediatrics and Paediatric Orthopaedics to treat apraxias (spasticity, dystonia), and in applying neurosurgical methods to reduce spasticity (selective dorsal rhizotomy, baclofen pump implantation).

Neurosurgical emergencies (craniocerebral injuries, spinal injuries, hydrocephalus) receive the highest level of comprehensive care. A modern surgical microscope, intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring and an MRI are all available for use in the hospital.

Our clinicians care for children with surgical conditions with the highest level of medical know-how and competence. Our team has extensive experience in the entire spectrum of paediatric surgery:

• Paediatric urology
• Correction of congenital malformations
• Oncological paediatric surgery
• Thorax and abdominal trauma
• Thoracic wall malformations (funnel chest, pigeon chest)
• Endocrine paediatric surgery: thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal gland, MEN syndrome
• Thorax surgery: lung resection, mediastinal tumours, pneumothorax
• Thoracic wall resection
• Outpatient paediatric surgery

Our patients are treated either on interdisciplinary Infant Ward I4 or Paediatric Ward I2 (children 2-18 years of age). We also have an Outpatient Surgery Unit (OSU), where we can treat Undescended testicle, Umbilical hernia, Epigastric hernia, Phimosis, Skin and hypodermis growths, Small skin tumours and more.

We focus on child-oriented treatment of all injuries and results of accidents in childhood and adolescence. All acute injuries of the musculoskeletal system including secondary damages after trauma (faulty growth, deformities, and chronic dislocations) will be treated at any time. This also includes the area of trauma to the hand, injuries of ligaments and tendons of the large joints (shoulder, knee) as well as deformities after injuries involving the epiphyseal cartilages, e.g. in the elbow area. Pelvic and spinal injuries in children and adolescents, either isolated or as a part of multiple injuries, e.g. after traffic accidents, are also focal points of this Department. Beyond that, the division has great experience in the treatment of benign bone neoplasms such as cysts and cartilage or bone tumors. The Division is fully authorized to treat school and pre-school injuries as well as commuting accidents and has the necessary accreditation of the health insurance for treatment of the above-mentioned clinical pictures subsequent to referral by a practice-based surgeon, pediatric surgeon or orthopedic specialist.

Our department deals with the psychic stress and disease symptoms that may arise in connection with acute and chronic physical illnesses on the one hand, and with physical dysfunctions that result from psychic stress or illnesses on the other.

After being admitted, children either undergo a primary examination, or they may be treated upon referral from other paediatric wards or outside paediatricians and child and adolescent psychiatrists. Families are involved in all aspects of treatment. Our spectrum includes

• Consultation and liaison service in the paediatric ward
• Psychosomatic care in the Altona Perinatal Centre’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
• Psychosomatic subspecialty in the Day Clinic

Our department provides services for children undergoing operations as well as an acute postoperative pain service. 

Most children will undergo surgery in general anaesthesia. In smaller children, inductions are usually carried out by inhalation of an anaesthetic vapour, then followed by an intravenous injection of further anaesthetic drugs. In addition to general anaesthesia, we offer a range of regional anaesthesia techniques, aimed at preventing postoperative pain. Examples are epidural anaesthesia and caudal anaesthesia. These techniques can be performed in anaesthetized children, thereby avoiding needle puncture pain. During the operation, the anaesthetist secures the vital body functions. All anaesthetic techniques are chosen individually, taking into consideration age and specific circumstances of the child, and discussed with parents / guardians on the day prior to the operation.

The anaesthetic department provides a postoperative acute pain service, providing intensified postoperative care to children who have received specific techniques for postoperative pain relief.
 

Our department offers imaging specially designed for paediatric patients. Our experienced paediatric radiologists and radiology medical-technical assistants use modern imaging techniques to answer various questions comprehensively and in a child-friendly manner. The department offers the full range of imaging studies, including ultrasound and colour Doppler sonography of all areas of the body and all types of tissue. X-ray machines are available to carry out examinations both with and without fluoroscopy. Functional imaging using contrast agents is also available. The radiology team has an unusually extensive level of experience in the areas of trauma medicine, orthopaedics, surgery and pneumology (cystic fibrosis). The range of modern imaging equipment is rounded out by a magnetic resonance imaging machine (MRI). This innovative MRI machine has an open design which increases patient comfort. Patients no longer need to be placed “in a tube” during the examination, helping them feel less claustrophobic and allowing children to see their parents for the duration of the test.

We treat around 30,000 patients each year Emergency Outpatient Clinic. Our highly qualified consulting staff provide high-quality care to infants, children and adolescents with urgent and emergency medical, surgical and traumatic conditions 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Whether your child is suffering from stomach pain to lacerations, febrile convulsions to a broken leg; we diagnose and treat our young patients with compassion and professionalism. The outpatient, inpatient and OP areas are adjacent to one another. This means we can operate as needed at any time very quickly.

Patient admissions is located in the lobby near the main entrance. Please register here when you arrive at Altona Children’s Hospital. If you already have an appointment to be admitted as an inpatient or for outpatient surgery, the staff at the information and patient admissions desk will tell you where you need to go. If your child does not yet have an appointment, one of our physicians will conduct an initial examination in one of the examination rooms adjacent to patient admissions. If the physician decides your child needs in-patient treatment, an admissions nurse will accompany you to the ward, where a nurse will admit you and your child.

Please remember to bring the following items for your child’s stay at our hospital:

• Insurance card from your health insurance company
• Admission referral from paediatrician
• Check-up booklet
• Vaccination certificate

The following personal items are also very important:

• Your child’s favourite toy or game
• Soft toy or other items your child is used to sleeping with
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Hairbrush or comb

Of course parents are welcome to visit their child at any time. We ask that all other visitors please refrain from visiting during our rest periods between 12:00 noon and 2:00 pm and after 7:00 pm. All visitors should report to the nurse on duty in the respective ward upon arrival.

Please remember that your child is sick and needs rest, as do the other children in the room. No more than two people (including parents) should visit a child at any given time. We ask for your cooperation if you are temporarily asked to leave the room for rounds or if nurses need to care for another child. Our physicians will keep you up-to-date on your child’s condition and improvement, and explain any other therapy that may prove necessary. Before leaving please insure that all bed rails are securely fastened. Please inform the ward nurse when you leave the room or the ward.
 

Space admitting, parents can stay with their child at the AKK. This means you can accompany your child to all treatments and provide support. The costs of rooming-in are often covered by health insurance. If your insurance covers your stay, then food and drinks in our cafeteria are also free of charge. We also offer the special comfort of individual mother-child units.
Should you be unable to room-in directly on the ward due to space limitations or medical restrictions, the Ronald McDonald Haus on the hospital grounds offers apartments for parents and siblings.

Our cafeteria is located next to our playground.

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 7.30 am - 3.00 pm

We offer breakfast, warm meals, salads, snacks, cake, coffee and soft drinks.