Pediatric Kidney Care

If your child has, or develops, a problem with their kidneys, you want to know they are being looked after by a highly trained team of doctors who know how to deal with your child’s specific condition. We have a:

• Pediatric Nephrology Clinic: We are open every day of the week to provide treatment for your child in a clean comfortable setting.
• Multidisciplinary team: We are home to the region's only pediatric nephrologists, pediatric kidney transplant surgeon and pediatric urologists, who specialize in treating the complications of pediatric kidney disease.
• Pediatric dialysis care: Children’s Hospital of Georgia is one of only two hospitals offering pediatric dialysis in Georgia.
• Patients and families first: We encourage our pediatric kidney patients and their families to be a big part of the decision making when it comes to their care, we want families to be involved through a child’s whole CHOG journey.

Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program

We have a comprehensive transplant program to treat end-stage renal failure in children.  We provide dialysis, and before and after kidney transplant services, at our Pediatric Nephrology Clinic, in an environment designed just for young patients enrolled in the Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program.

Our nephrology team is trained in the care and management of kidney problems such as:

• Acute and chronic renal insufficiency
• Fluid electrolyte imbalances
• Hypertension
• Kidney stones
• Nephritic and Nephrotic syndromes
• Reflux or other diseases that damage the kidneys

If your child is experiencing symptoms of kidney disease, such as strange colored pee, changes in how much or how often they pee, swelling of their hands, feet or face, or lower back pain then they might need to see us.

Diagnostics and evaluation procedures

 

We offer a full range of in-house non-surgical and surgical diagnostic procedures including:

• Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, to measure a child’s blood pressure over a 24-hour period.
• Renal ultrasound, where we use sound waves to see the size, shape, and location of the kidney(s) and/or to check the blood flow into the kidneys.
• Kidney biopsy, an image-guided surgical procedure to extract a sample of the kidney for examination to determine treatment options. Patients will stay overnight at Children’s Hospital of Georgia.

Treatments for kidney disease

Kidney treatments can range from simple to complex. Children’s Hospital of Georgia offers:

• Pediatric dialysis, specialized hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis for acute and chronic kidney patients at our Pediatric Nephrology Clinic, open seven days a week.
• Nutritional counseling, by registered dietitians to help your child manage what they eat and drink for optimal kidney health.
• Kidney transplant surgery, performed by a specially trained pediatric kidney surgeon for end-stage renal failure.

Support Services

We are there for you and your child, always know you can come to us for support care and comfort. Please consult our,

• Medical social workers
• Child Life Specialists, to help children with kidney problems understand and cope with diagnosis and treatment.