When something does not look right with how your child moves — a foot that turns in, a limp that persists after a minor fall, a spine that seems to curve — the instinct to get a clear answer quickly is completely understandable. Children's musculoskeletal problems are not the same as adult ones. Dr. Ankit Chaudhari at Ashirwad Hospital provides dedicated paediatric orthopedic assessment and treatment for children from birth through adolescence.
Paediatric orthopedics is the specialised branch of bone and joint medicine focused entirely on children. It is not simply adult orthopedics scaled down. A child's skeleton is actively growing, with growth plates — areas of cartilage at the ends of long bones that determine final bone length and shape — that are not present in an adult. Injuries to growth plates need specific management that differs completely from how the same injury would be handled in a fully developed skeleton.
Congenital conditions present at birth — clubfoot, hip dysplasia, extra or fused fingers — need treatment strategies timed to the child's developmental stage. Conditions like Perthes disease, slipped upper femoral epiphysis (SUFE), and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis occur only during specific phases of growth and will not be seen in an adult orthopedic practice at all.
This is why parents searching for the best paediatric ortho doctor in Surat are specifically looking for a doctor with experience in children's bone conditions — not just a general orthopedic surgeon who also sees children occasionally. Dr. Chaudhari at Ashirwad Hospital brings child-specific knowledge of paediatric bone conditions, their natural history, and their treatment timing to every child assessed at the clinic.
A large proportion of childhood bone and joint concerns — mild bow legs, physiological flat feet, toddler's fractures, minor growth plate injuries — resolve without intervention if monitored correctly. Dr. Chaudhari explains clearly when treatment is required and when observation is the appropriate plan, rather than recommending procedures the child does not need.
Parents in Surat and South Gujarat searching for the best paediatric ortho doctor have limited options among individual specialist practices. The reasons families consistently choose Ashirwad Hospital for their child's orthopedic care include:
Dr. Ankit Chaudhari personally reviews every paediatric case, examines the child, interprets the imaging, and explains the diagnosis and treatment plan to parents in language that is clear and honest. Children are not triaged to junior staff.
Children are not small adults, and the environment, pace, and communication style of a paediatric consultation at Ashirwad Hospital is calibrated to reduce anxiety for both the child and the family. Procedures requiring anaesthesia are explained to parents with full informed consent before any decision is made.
The diagnostics and imaging centre at Ashirwad Hospital provides hip ultrasound, digital X-ray, MRI, and CT scanning on site. For a child who has had a fall or whose parent is worried about an abnormal gait, assessment, imaging, and diagnosis can all happen in the same visit.
A large proportion of childhood bone and joint concerns resolve without intervention if monitored correctly. Dr. Chaudhari explains clearly when treatment is required and when observation is the appropriate plan, rather than recommending procedures the child does not need.
A child with clubfoot may also have a congenital upper limb finding that benefits from the hand and upper limb surgery service. A child treated for a spine curve may have an associated hip problem. Ashirwad Hospital's breadth of full orthopedics services in Surat means the child does not need to be referred to a different hospital for each finding.
Patients come to Ashirwad Hospital from Adajan, Vesu, Pal, Bhatar, Athwa, and across Surat city, as well as from Bharuch, Navsari, Tapi, and Valsad — for specialist paediatric orthopedic assessment not available at local facilities.
Dr. Ankit Chaudhari covers the full range of bone, joint, and growth conditions specific to children — from a newborn's clubfoot to an adolescent's scoliosis to a schoolchild's growth plate fracture. Select a category below to learn more:
Clubfoot is one of the most common birth defects affecting the musculoskeletal system in India. The foot is twisted inward and downward at birth, and without treatment it will not correct on its own. Parents who notice the baby's foot turning inward immediately after delivery should seek a paediatric ortho assessment at Ashirwad Hospital in Surat as early as possible, because the younger the child when treatment begins, the better the outcome.
The gold standard treatment is the Ponseti method — a series of gentle manipulations followed by a plaster cast that holds the correction, repeated weekly for 5 to 8 weeks, gradually achieving the target position. This is followed by a minor procedure called a percutaneous Achilles tenotomy in most cases, and then a period of wearing a foot abduction brace for several years to maintain the correction. The Ponseti method avoids extensive surgery in the vast majority of cases and produces excellent long-term results when started early and followed consistently. Dr. Chaudhari performs Ponseti casting and tenotomy for clubfoot at Ashirwad Hospital in Surat.
DDH is a condition where the hip socket does not properly cover the ball of the femoral head, leading to instability, partial dislocation, or complete dislocation of the hip joint. It is found in approximately 1 to 3 percent of newborns and is more common in girls, firstborns, and babies born in the breech position.
Parents sometimes notice a clicking sound during nappy changes, asymmetrical skin folds in the thigh, or one leg that appears shorter or turns out differently. In older children who were not diagnosed at birth, DDH may first present as a limp or waddling gait. Treatment depends on the child's age at diagnosis:
Early detection and treatment of DDH at Ashirwad Hospital in Surat is the single most important factor in avoiding long-term complications including early hip arthritis. The diagnostics and imaging centre provides hip ultrasound for infants under 4 to 6 months and X-ray for older children, allowing diagnosis and severity grading in the same visit.
The growth plate is the weakest point in a child's bone and the area most vulnerable to fracture. Unlike an adult who would sprain a ligament, a child who falls on an outstretched hand or twists an ankle is more likely to injure the growth plate than the surrounding ligament. Growth plate fractures are classified on the Salter-Harris scale from Type I (a clean separation, healing well with casting) to Type V (compression of the growth plate, carrying the highest risk of growth disturbance).
The key concern is growth arrest — damage to the physis causing the bone to stop growing at a normal rate, resulting in a leg length discrepancy or angular deformity. Dr. Chaudhari explains this risk specifically during consultation and arranges appropriate follow-up imaging to monitor growth over the year following a significant growth plate injury.
Most paediatric fractures are managed with closed reduction and casting. Selected displaced or unstable fractures require surgical fixation with smooth Kirschner wires — a minor procedure performed under general anaesthesia. Children's bones heal far faster than adult bones, and the period of immobilisation is shorter. For urgent fracture care, the trauma and fracture care for children in Surat unit at Ashirwad Hospital manages paediatric fractures with emergency availability.
Flat feet in young children are almost always physiological — a normal developmental stage. The foot arch develops gradually through childhood and most children who appear flat-footed at age 2 or 3 will have a normal arch by age 6. Physiological flat feet require no treatment.
However, flat feet that persist beyond age 6 to 7, that are painful, that are associated with rigid stiffness (not correcting when the child stands on tip-toe), or that cause a noticeable abnormality in gait deserve assessment at Ashirwad Hospital. Rigid flat feet may indicate tarsal coalition — an abnormal bony bridge between two foot bones — which needs imaging to confirm and may require surgery in some cases. Treatment for symptomatic flat feet begins with supportive insoles and physiotherapy, coordinated through the foot and ankle care in Surat service.
Bow legs and knock knees are among the most common reasons parents bring a child to the best paediatric ortho doctor in Surat. In most cases, the condition is entirely within the normal developmental range:
Treatment is required when the deformity is severe, progressive, asymmetric (one leg affected, not both), or associated with an underlying cause such as Blount's disease, rickets, or a metabolic bone disorder. Management options range from monitoring in mild cases to guided growth surgery — a brief procedure involving a small implant that temporarily slows growth on the outer side of the bone — for significant progressive deformity. Assessment at Ashirwad Hospital includes intermalleolar or intercondylar distance measurement and standing alignment X-rays through the diagnostics and imaging centre where indicated.
Scoliosis is a sideways curvature of the spine that most commonly appears during the adolescent growth spurt — typically between ages 10 and 15 — and is more common in girls than boys. Parents may notice uneven shoulder heights, one shoulder blade that sticks out more than the other, an uneven waistline, or one hip appearing higher than the other.
Assessment at Ashirwad Hospital includes a clinical examination and standing spine X-rays to measure the Cobb angle — the degree of curvature. Management depends on the Cobb angle and the amount of growth remaining:
Scoliosis is not painful or disabling in the early stages and rarely reaches a surgical threshold when caught and monitored from an early point. School screening or an alert parent noticing asymmetry is often what brings the diagnosis — and the earlier it is identified, the wider the range of non-surgical options.
A difference in the length of the two legs can arise from a prior growth plate injury, a congenital limb hypoplasia, a bone infection that damaged the physis, or post-surgical changes. Small differences of up to 1 to 1.5 centimetres are generally well tolerated and require only observation. Larger differences cause a visible limp, compensatory pelvic tilt, and long-term risk of scoliosis and hip problems if left unmanaged. Management options include shoe raise for small stable discrepancies, epiphysiodesis (guided growth procedure to allow the shorter limb to catch up), or limb lengthening using an external or internal fixator for larger discrepancies.
Perthes disease is a condition in which the blood supply to the femoral head is temporarily disrupted, causing the bone to die (avascular necrosis) and then gradually revascularise and heal over a period of 2 to 4 years. It typically affects children between the ages of 4 and 10 and presents as a limp — often painless or mildly painful — that the child has had for weeks or months before a parent brings them to a doctor.
Left untreated, Perthes disease can lead to a permanently deformed femoral head, which causes early hip arthritis in adulthood. Management aims to maintain the round shape of the femoral head during the healing phase by keeping it contained within the socket. Treatment ranges from activity restriction and physiotherapy in mild cases to surgical containment procedures (femoral or pelvic osteotomy) in more severe cases. The natural history of Perthes disease spans 2 to 4 years with periodic monitoring X-rays — parents in Surat need a paediatric ortho doctor who will follow the case consistently through this period.
SUFE is a condition specific to the adolescent growth spurt, most common in overweight teenage boys between 11 and 15 years. The ball of the femoral head slips backward on the growth plate, causing a deep groin or hip pain and a characteristic external rotation of the leg when the child walks.
SUFE is an orthopaedic urgency. Once diagnosed, the child should not be allowed to walk on the affected leg, as further slippage can damage the blood supply to the femoral head. Treatment is surgical fixation of the physis with a cannulated screw, which prevents further slippage while the growth plate closes. An important note: knee pain is a referred symptom of SUFE that commonly misleads parents and even some doctors into initially assessing the knee rather than the hip. An overweight adolescent in Surat who is limping with groin or knee pain should be seen at Ashirwad Hospital promptly.
Bone infection (osteomyelitis) and joint infection (septic arthritis) are orthopaedic emergencies in children. A child presenting with fever, localised bone tenderness, reluctance to move a limb needs urgent assessment — particularly if the hip joint is involved, since septic arthritis of the hip can destroy the femoral head within 24 to 48 hours if not drained urgently.
Dr. Chaudhari at Ashirwad Hospital uses blood markers (CRP, ESR, full blood count, blood culture), ultrasound, and MRI through the diagnostics and imaging centre to confirm the diagnosis. Treatment of acute osteomyelitis uses intravenous antibiotics initially, transitioning to oral antibiotics once the infection is responding. Septic arthritis of the hip requires prompt surgical drainage in theatre.
Congenital deformities of the upper limb in children — including radial club hand (where the radius bone is absent or hypoplastic, causing the wrist to deviate toward the thumb side), syndactyly (webbing between fingers), polydactyly (extra fingers), and trigger thumb in infants — are assessed and managed through Ashirwad Hospital's hand and upper limb surgery in Surat service, with Dr. Chaudhari providing an integrated assessment covering both the orthopaedic and functional aspects.
Children who walk on their tiptoes consistently beyond age 3 on one or both feet deserve assessment at Ashirwad Hospital. While idiopathic toewalking (with no underlying cause) is managed with stretching and physiotherapy, tiptoe walking can also be a sign of tight Achilles tendons, cerebral palsy, or leg length discrepancy that requires specific management.
Many parents wonder whether their concern is significant enough to warrant a specialist visit. The general guidance from Dr. Chaudhari at Ashirwad Hospital is: if something about your child's movement, posture, or limb appearance has been bothering you for more than 2 to 4 weeks — or if it appeared suddenly after an injury — a consultation is worthwhile and will either provide reassurance that the finding is normal, or identify a condition that benefits from early treatment.
The structure of a first consultation for a child at Ashirwad Hospital is designed to get the family to a clear answer as efficiently as possible:
A brief form covering the child's birth history, developmental milestones, prior health conditions, family history of bone or joint problems, and the current concern. Parents are encouraged to bring all prior X-rays, ultrasound reports, or GP referral letters to the first visit.
For an infant: a hip examination for DDH and a full limb assessment. For a toddler: a walking assessment and lower limb alignment check. For an older child or adolescent: a spine check, gait analysis, and joint-specific assessment. The examination is conducted with the child as comfortable as possible.
X-ray, ultrasound, or MRI through the diagnostics and imaging centre at Ashirwad Hospital if the clinical picture indicates it. For fracture assessments in children, bringing the child to the hospital promptly after the injury rather than waiting for a scheduled appointment is recommended.
A clear explanation of what is found, whether it is within the normal range, whether treatment is recommended, and what that treatment involves — in terms a parent without a medical background can understand and act on. Dr. Chaudhari does not use clinical language to avoid giving a direct answer.
Many paediatric ortho conditions — Perthes disease, scoliosis, limb length discrepancy, DDH — require periodic follow-up over months or years. Dr. Chaudhari sets a clear follow-up schedule from the outset so families know what to expect and do not face uncertainty about when to come back.
Different conditions present at different stages of a child's growth. This reference helps parents in Surat understand which conditions are relevant to their child's age group.
Dr. Ankit Chaudhari is the lead orthopedic specialist at Ashirwad Hospital, Surat. His clinical focus includes paediatric bone and joint conditions, congenital deformities, growth plate injuries, clubfoot, DDH, scoliosis, and orthopaedic conditions across all paediatric age groups from newborn through adolescence.
Dr. Chaudhari personally reviews every paediatric case, examines the child, interprets the imaging, and explains the diagnosis and treatment plan to parents in language that is clear and honest. Children are not triaged to junior staff — every child receives a named, experienced specialist from the first visit. For Dr. Chaudhari's qualifications and the hospital's background, visit the about page.
Ashirwad Hospital is a dedicated orthopedic hospital in Surat with a comprehensive range of services for patients of all ages:
The clinic is easily accessible from Adajan, Pal, Vesu, Bhatar, Athwa, City Light, and across Surat city. Families also travel regularly from Bharuch, Navsari, Tapi, and Valsad for paediatric orthopedic assessment and treatment.
| Monday – Saturday | 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM |
| Sunday | By prior appointment or emergency only |
For urgent paediatric ortho concerns — a child refusing to walk after a fall, a child with fever and a hot swollen joint — contact the hospital immediately rather than waiting for a scheduled slot. Visit the contact page to book your child's appointment.
Ashirwad Hospital provides specialized orthopedic care with modern facilities, expert surgeons, and patient-focused healing.
3rd Floor, Vision Business Hub Opposite Shell Petrol Pump, L.P. Savani Road, Adajan, Surat, 395009