Paediatric Surgery
Introduction: VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital is a premier institution in India and notably the Department of Pediatric Surgery has been serving the needs of young patients for over 50 years, providing specialized care and innovative treatments for children. The Department is running a 3-year M. Ch course with annual intake of 4 candidates. There are 6 regular and 1 contractual faculty members who along with ten senior residents take care of various surgical neonates and other paediatric patients. The Department provides surgical care for neonatal surgical anomaly, gastro intestinal disease, genitourinary anomalies, thoracic disorders and neural tube ailments like lipomeningomyelocele. Paediatric trauma patients (trauma pertaining to Abdominal and thoracic regions) and solid organ tumors (pediatric oncology) are also treated in the Department. Our commitment to excellence and patient-centred care has made us a trusted name in the healthcare industry. Established with a mission to provide quality healthcare services, we continually strive to improve our facilities and services to meet the evolving needs of our community.
Our faculty comprises experts in their respective fields, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to our hospital. They are involved in teaching, research, and clinical practice, ensuring that we stay at the forefront of medical advancements.
Infrastructure: Our department boasts state-of-the-art infrastructure equipped with the latest medical technology. Our patient-centric design includes spacious wards with specialized pediatric HDU, neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), well-equipped modern operation theatres for both elective and emergency surgeries and facilities for both invasive and non-invasive ventilation of neonatal and paediatric patients. We have installed the most modern Urodynamic Machine in our OPD which will definitely add on to the management of paediatric urology cases.
Services: We offer a wide range of services across various specialties. We run 6 days a week regular OPD with annual OPD registrations of approx. 20,000-21,000. In routine OT, we have 2 Main OT tables every day, and we are able to do approx. 1500-2000 major cases per year. Similarly, we have a minor procedure room in our ward where we are do approx. 3500-4000 cases every year. We also run a 24 X 7 emergency OT in the New Emergency building where we are do approx. 2-3 cases per day. (amounts to an annual emergency surgery of 450-500 cases).
| Sr. No. | Name | Designation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr. Archana Puri | Director Professor & HOD |
| 2 | Dr. Samir Kant Acharya | Consultant |
| 3 | Dr. Nariender Tekchandani | Senior Chief Medical Officer |
| 4 | Dr. Nidhi Sugandhi | Professor |
| 5 | Dr. Vaibhav Garg | Assistant Professor |
| 6 | Dr. Viji G | Assistant Professor |
| 7 | Dr. Apporva Sharma | Assistant Professor (Adhoc) |
S.No | NAME of Faculty | CHS DESIGNATION | Equated DESIGNATION (GGSIPU) | Date of Superannuation |
1 | Dr. Archana Puri
| Director Professor | Professor | 31/08/2034 |
2 | Dr. Samir Kant Acharya | Consultant | Professor | 30/9/2037 |
3 | Dr. Nidhi Sugandhi | Professor | Associate Professor | 28/02/2046 |
4 | Dr Vaibhav Garg | Associate Professor | Assistant Professor | 30/04/2053 |
5 | Dr Viji G | Assistant Professor | Assistant Professor | 30/11/2052 |
6 | Dr. Apoorva Sharma | Assistant Professor | Not Applicable (as adhoc) | NA |
List of Teaching and Non-Teaching staff with designation posted in the Department.
Teaching Staff
S.No | Name | DESIGNATION |
1 | Dr. Archana Puri | Director Professor |
2 | Dr. Samir Kant Acharya | Consultant |
3 | Dr. Nidhi Sugandhi | Professor |
4 | Dr Vaibhav Garg | Assistant Professor |
5 | Dr Viji G | Assistant Professor |
6 | Dr Apoorva | Assistant Professor |
7 | Dr Priya | Senior Resident |
8 | Dr Akanksha | Senior Resident |
9 | Dr Akshaya | Senior Resident |
10 | Dr Ajit | Senior Resident |
11 | Dr Apparna Chakraborthy | Senior Resident |
12 | Dr Swati Singh | Senior Resident |
13 | Dr Sarmishta | Senior Resident |
15 | Dr Riya | Senior Resident |
Non-Teaching Staff
S.No | Name | DESIGNATION |
1 | Dr Narinder Teckchandani | Sr CMO |
2 | Bishan Singh | UDC |
3 | Praveen | D.E.O HOD Office |
4 | Nariender | Nursing Orderly posted in HOD Office |
5 | Vikas | OT Assistant |
6 | Adiba | OT Assistant |
Our outpatient services are available six days a week, from Monday to Saturday. Regular OPD timings are from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM at SSB Zone 1, Ground floor, Room 2
| Sr. No. | Days | Name of Faculty | Room No | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Monday | Dr. Samir Kant Acharya | Zone 1 ground floor Room No. 1 & 2 | 9AM to 4PM |
| 2. | Tuesday | Dr. Archana Puri | Zone 1 ground floor Room No. 1 & 2 | 9AM to 4PM |
| 3. | Wednesday | Dr. Nidhi Sugandhi | Zone 1 ground floor Room No. 1 & 2 | 9AM to 4PM |
| 4. | Thursday | Dr. Vaibhav Garg | Zone 1 ground floor Room No. 1 & 2 | 9AM to 4PM |
| 5. | Friday | Dr. Archana Puri/Dr. Viji.G | Zone 1 ground floor Room No. 1 & 2 | 9AM to 4PM |
| 6. | Saturday | Dr. Nariender Tekchandani, Dr. Viji G | Zone 1 ground floor Room No. 1 & 2 | 9AM to 4PM |
Specialty Clinics
We operate various specialty clinics to cater to specific health needs, including:
| Sr. No. | Day | Clinic |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Monday | Oncology clinic |
| 2. | Tuesday | Urology clinic/Hepatobiliary |
| 3. | Wednesday | Gastro intestinal clinic |
| 4. | Thursday | Vascular malformation and miscellaneous clinic |
| 5. | Friday | Urology and hepatobiliary clinic |
These clinics provide focused care and expert consultations for chronic and complex health conditions.
Research and Publication
Indexed Publications of Individual Faculty during last three years
Publications
Yadav R, Puri Archana, Gupta J. Clinical insights in managing spontaneously ruptured pyogenic liver abscess with hepatoduodenal fistula. I Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg 2025;30(6):803-4.
Puri Archana, Totadri V, Gupta J. Surgical insights and therapeutic challenges in the management of giant complex vascular malformation of the buttock. Aceepted for publication on November 2025 in J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg.
Puri Archana, Kumar A, Raman A. Surrogate imaging markers of Urodynamic proven bladder dysfunction in posterior urethral valves. A comprehensive evaluation. ,J Pediatr Urol 2023 25:51477-5131123) 001274
Puri Archana Critical appraisal of the article entitled “ Evaluation of risk factors affecting the outcome of outborn surgical neonates “ J indian Assoc Pediatr Surg 2022;27 (4) : 512
Puri Archana, Khairong PDS, Singh S. A critical appraisal of clinical, pathological, imaging and Gene Xpcrt profile of surgical referral with paediatric abdominal tuberculosis. J Indian Assoc Pediatr Surg 2023;28(1): 41- 7
Puri Archana, Mishra Kiran, Anand Rama. Non Wilms renal tumour In : Sarin YK (eds) Wilms tumour springer, Singapore (2022)
Hosale P, Solanki RS, Puri Archana et a1. Ultrasonographic evaluation of non-traumatic gastrointestinal emergencies in children. Inndographics 2023;2:62-78
Sugandhi N. Metastatic wilm's tumour in Wilm's tumour. Ed Sarin YK, Pub Springer Singapore Edl , Pages 255-265.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3428-5
Sugandhi N. Ruptured tumours. Ed Sarin YK, Pub Springer Singapore Edl, Pages 247-253.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-3428-5
Sreedharan A, Ramesh V, Sugandhi N, Acharya S, Jadhav A, Puri A. Pediatric transplants in India(2013-2020), its growth and the effect of COVID 19 Pandemic. Korean Journal of Transplantation Sep 2022.36.S80-S80. Doi.10.4285/ATW2022.F-1988.
Samraj P,Chakrborty G, Sugandhi N, Shoor G, Acharya S, Jadhav A, Bagga D. Primary anastomosis in difficult cases of type C esophageal atresia: The Atraumatic microvascular clamp technique of minimal tension with good outcome .Vol 56,Issue 5, P1076-1081.
Nandan R,Samie AU ,Acharya SK ,Goel P ,Jain V ,Dhua AK ,KhanMA ,Yadav DK. Pediatric Appendicitis Score or Ultrasonography? In Search of a Better Diagnostic Tool in Indian Children with Lower Abdominal Pain.Indian Journal of Pediatrics, 06 Jul 2022.
Piplani R , Acharya SK , Bagga D. Recto-vestibular fistula with colonic duplication: report of three cases and review of literature. Piplani et al. Annals of Pediatric Surgery (2022) 18:47.
Singh V,ShoorG,AcharyaSK,SrivastavaS.Spectrum of congenital lung and foregut malformations: scope for awareness and prompt management-a case series;Indian j Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.2022 May;38(3):307-311
Anjana Sreedharan, Vasanthi Ramesh, Nidhi Sugandhi, Samir Kant Acharya, Amit Kumar Jadhav, Archana Puri. Pediatric transplantsin India (2013-2020), its growth and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, Korean I Transplant 2022; 36(Suppl 1): S80-S80, Published online. November 17, 2022.
16. Piplani, Rajat & Ach a, Samir & Bagga, Deepak. (2023). Congenital anterior urethral diverticulum in children: case series and review of the literature. Annals of Pediatric Surgery. 19, 9 (2023).
ii)Chapters in the book
Puri Archana, Viji G, Garg V. Pediatric soft tissue sarcoma. In Babu R: IAPS Textbook of Pediatric Surgery 2nd Ed; Jaypee Medical Publishers, Delhi 2025; 646-61.
Puri Archana, Mishra Kiran, Anand Rama. Non Wilms' renal tumour ln: Sarin YK (eds) Wilms tumour springer, Singapore (2025) https://doiorg/ 10.1007 /978-81-19-3428-5-39.
Sugandhi N: Metastatic Wilms tumour In : Sarin YK (Eds) Wilms Tumour; Springer Nature, 2022 ; ISBN, 9811934290, 9789811934292
Sugandhi N: Wilms tumour in resource challenged setting In: Sarin YK (Eds) Wilms Tumour, Springer Nature, 2022 ; ISBN, 9811934290, 9789811934292
Sugandhi N : Mediastinal masses in book ' Paediatric Surgery - a quick guide to decision making ' by Choudhary SR (Eds) Springer Nature 2025- 2nd Ed
iii)Ongoing Thesis Research work-
S. No | Name of the candidate | Name of the guide | Title of the thesis | Period |
1 | Dr Priya | Dr Archana Puri | Evaluation of clinical, biochemical and radiological parameters for risk stratification of pediatric blunt abdominal trauma patients | 2023-25 |
2 | Dr Ajit | Dr Samir Kant Acharya | A comparative study of interstitial cells of cajal density in pelvi ureteric junction and upper ureter in cases of PUJ obstruction and correlation with functional outcome | 2023-25 |
3 | Dr Akanksha | Dr Archana Puri | Evaluation of urinary microalbumin and serum cystatin C in poorly functional kidney with congenital unilateral ureteropelvic junction obstruction and its correlation with final functional recovery | 2023-25 |
4 | Dr Akshaya | Dr Nidhi Sugandhi | Quantification of postoperative stress response and correlation with 72HOUR mortality in neonates undergoing surgical intervention | 2023-25 |
5 | Dr. Apparna | Dr. Archana Puri | Post operative anatomical and functional outcome analysis of single stage transverse inner preputial island flap urethroplasty in children with proximal penile and penoscrotal hypospadias. | Dec 2025-May 2027 |
6 | Dr Swati Singh | Dr. Samir Kant Acharya | A study of FOXF1 gene deletion and mutation in Esophageal atresia | Dec 2025-May 2027 |
7 | Dr Sarmista | Dr. Nidhi Sugandhi | Evaluation of efficacy of ERAS protocol in improving postoperative outcomes in pediatric population undergoing primary bowel anastomosis” | Dec 2025-May 2027 |
B) FUNDED SPECIAL GRANTS/PROJECTS DURING THE YEAR 2025
ONGOING
Dr Nidhi Sugandhi- Co investigator and centre PI of multicentric ICMR project ‘Infrared Signature of Paediatric Surgical Wound: Thermographic Profiles and Early-Stage test accuracy Study to Predict The Surgical Site Infection and Development of Depp learning Based Artificial Intelligence technique for Automatic Image Segmentation’ 2023 Onwards. Recurring grants for the primary centre. Funded by ICMR.
Events
Recent Advancements/Achievements of Department/CME/Conferences/ Other Academic activity conducted by Department (if any)
Started the play room in the Department of Pediatric Surgery with the help of Parivartan Sandesh foundation.
COURSES: The department conducted a hands-on session on simulator for laparoscopic pyeloplasty in September 2025.
Teaching and Training: Dr Viji G attended the BCME workshop in April 2026 .
The department conducts regular teaching sessions for the senior residents to improve their knowledge and skills.
Achievements and Awards:
AWARDS
Dr Nidhi Sugandhi : Second prize in paper presentation at 17th ASEAN Society Paediatric Surgery Congress in Singapore (August 2025)
Dr Vaibhav Garg : Best Paper (Consultant Category) at IAPSCON 2025 Puri, Odisha (Nov 2025)
ACHIEVEMENTS (FACULTY)
Puri Archana delivered a CME lecture on ‘Esophageal atresia’ in 17th Pediatric Surgery update at Maulana Azad Medical College New Delhi on 6th Feb 2025
Puri Archana delivered a CME lecture on “Pediatric urological disorders: identifying red flags for early intervention:” in Pediatric CKD session on World kidney day at Safdarjung hospital on 9 March 2025
Puri Archana chaired the session on Neonatal surgical emergencies in NZPEDICON-PCNI 2025, at Le Meriden on 30 August 2025
Puri Archana delivered a CME lecture on “Bladder exstrophy repair” in pearls and perils in reconstructive pediatric surgery at DAPS annual meet at MAMC, New Delhi on 11 Oct 2025.
Acharya Samir Kant participated as Faculty in Mumbai Update Of Paediatric Surgery in August 2025
Acharya Samir Kant participated as Faculty in Delhi Update Of Paediatric Surgery organised by MAMC in February 2025
Sugandhi Nidhi attended ICMR grant writing workshop at AIIMS Delhi - 23rd. FEB
Sugandhi Nidhi attended and Chaired in paper presentation at Annual Conference of Paediatric Surgical Oncology 2025 -1-3 rd August AIIMS Patna
Sugandhi Nidhi delivered a CME lecture on ' Management of trauma in children ' at 17th Paediatric Surgery Update, MAMC, 5-9 th February 2025
Sugandhi Nidhi delivered a CME lecture on 'Risk based management of Paediatric RMS ' at APSOCON (Annual Conference of Paediatric Surgical Oncology) 2025 -1-3 rd August AIIMS Patna
Sugandhi N: Paper presentation on ' Antegrade dilator in distal loop - effective way to facilitate surgery for rectal atresia' at 32nd International Meeting of the Paediatric Colorectal Club (PCC 2025) Croatia May 18-20, 2025.
Sugandhi N: Paper presentation on 'Diagnostic Accuracy of Cross-Table Prone Lateral (CTPL) X-ray in Predicting Level of Rectal Pouch in Male Patients with Ano-Rectal Malformation (ARM)' at 32nd International Meeting of the Paediatric Colorectal Club (PCC 2025) Croatia May 18-20, 2025.
Sugandhi N: Poster presentation on 'Congenital Gastric Web - An Unusual Diagnosis for Childhood Dysphagia' at26th Annual Conference of European Paediatric Surgery Association, May23-25 Croatia
Sugandhi N: Paper presentation on “Assessment of outcomes of primary posterior saggital anorectoplasty in patients of vestibular fistula” at The 32nd International Meeting of the Pediatric Colorectal Club (PCC 2025) Croatia May 18-20, 2025.
Sugandhi N: Paper presentation on “A Pilot Study on Resolution of Bladder Neck Hypertrophy (BNH) after Cystoscopic Fulguration in Children with Posterior Urethral Valve” at 26th Annual Conference of European Paediatric Surgery Association, May23-25 Croatia
Sugandhi N: Paper presentation on “To evaluate the patterns and primary management of perineal injuries in children and assess the adequacy of Genital Injury Score”. at 26th Annual Conference of European Paediatric Surgery Association, May23-25 Croatia
Sugandhi N: Poster presentation on “Rare presentation of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumour as duodenal perforation: diagnostic and management challenges” at 26th Annual Conference of European Paediatric Surgery Association, May23-25 Croatia
Garg Vaibhav attended and Chaired in paper presentation at IAPSCON 2025 on 7th November 2025 at Puri, Odisha
Viji G Attended Paediatric Surgery Oncology Master Class organized by AIIMS, New Delhi- August 2025 and presented cases in the tumour board
Viji G Attended and chaired a session in the 7th APSOCON,2025 at Patna, India-August 2025
Garg Vaibhav, Puri Archana, Acharya Samir Kant, Sugandhi N, Viji G presented a paper titled “The Enigma of Pediatric Renal Tumours beyond 5 years age- a histological potpourri case Series” during IAPSCON 2025 on 06 November 2025 at Puri, Odisha- Won Best Paper Award
Akanksha, Puri Archana presented a paper titled “Profile of urine microalbumin and serum cystatin C in poorly functioning kidney with unilateral UPJO in Indian children as compared to age matched control” during IAPSCON 2025 on 07 November 2025 at Puri, Odisha.
Akshaya, Puri Archana presented a paper titled “Small Round Cell Enigma - Pediatric Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (PNET)” during IAPSCON 2025 on 07 November 2025 at Puri, Odisha- Won Best Paper Award
Priya, Puri Archana presented a paper titled “Diagnostic accuracy of modified Blunt abdominal trauma score (BATiC) in pediatric intraabdominal injury” during IAPSCON 2025 on 06 November 2025 at Puri, Odisha.
Priya , Puri Archana presented a paper titled “Prognostic significance of Modified BATiC score in pediatric blunt abdominal trauma” during IAPSCON 2025 on 07 November 2025 at Puri, Odisha.- won Runner Up Award
Ajit, Puri Archana presented a paper titled “Clinical insights into the management of Juvenile Hyaline Fibromatosis (JHF) in two siblings.” during IAPSCON 2025 on 06 November 2025 at Puri, Odisha- won Runner Up Award.
Ajit, Acharya Samir Kant , Puri Archana presented a paper titled “Differential change in Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) at Pelvi-ureteric Junction (PUJ) and upper ureter in case of unilateral PUJ obstruction (PUJO): A pilot study” during IAPSCON 2025 on 07 November 2025 at Puri, Odisha.
Charulata Naik, Puri Archana presented a Poster on “Is age at surgery an important determinant in post pyeloplasty anatomical and functional recovery?” at the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Surgery (WOFAPS) held from 12th to 15th November 2025 at Antalya,Turkey
Charulata Naik, Puri Archana presented a Poster on “The enigma of pediatric distal esophageal perforations: A case series” at the 8th World Congress of Pediatric Surgery (WOFAPS) held from 12th to 15th November 2025 at Antalya,Turkey
Aditi Sharma presented “Martin's modification in the era of two stage duhamel pull through: Pros and cons” at the 7th Annual congress of ASEAN society of paediatric surgeons (ASPS), Singapore, from 27-31st August 2025.
Aditi Sharma, Sugandhi N presented a paper on “Comparison of baseline volumes and growth rate of palpable undescended testis post orchidopexy with normally descended testis of age matched controls” at the 7th Annual congress of ASEAN society of paediatric surgeons (ASPS), Singapore, from 27-31st August 2025- Ist Runner up
Aditi Sharma presented a poster “Fourth part duodenal injury- a silent presentation” at the 7th Annual congress of ASEAN society of paediatric surgeons (ASPS), Singapore, from 27-31st August 2025.
Aditi Sharma presented a poster “Low anorectal malformation - is iatrogenic urethral fistula acceptable?” at the 7th Annual congress of ASEAN society of paediatric surgeons (ASPS), Singapore, from 27-31st August 2025
Dr. Archana Puri appointed as an external expert for Postgraduate thesis evaluation for PGI Chandigarh in October 2025.
Dr. Archana Puri appointed as subject expert for the faculty interview at AIIMS Bhatinda on 29.11.25
Dr Nidhi Sugandhi - Reviewer for Journal of Indian Association of Paediatric Surgeons, Indian Journal of Paediatrics and Indian Paediatrics Journals
Dr Nidhi Sugandhi is member of following Committees External expert for Technical Review Committee for equipment procurement for MCH block at AIIMS
Dr Nidhi Sugandhi Member of ICMR Expert group for developing Standard Treatment workflows for Paediatric Surgery
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Page last updated date:18-08-2026 12:10 PM
