Patient Education
These educational guides cover a number of the common conditions treated by physicians at PSA. These guides should be used for informational purposes only. For any specific information on conditions or treatment you need to speak to your primary care physician.
Pre-Operative Education
Appendicitis
Bladder Augmentation
Bladder augmentation is a surgical procedure to enlarge the bladder so that it can hold a greater volume of urine.Chordee Repair
Your son will soon be coming to the hospital for a chordee repair. This will involve a very small incision made in the penis to correct curvature. This information will help prepare you and your child for the procedure.Circumcision
A circumcision is a procedure to surgically remove the foreskin from the penis. This is most often done shortly after birth, but sometimes a circumcision is done later in a child’s life, even in adulthood.
Continent Urinary Diversion
Your child is scheduled for a continent urinary ostomy. Your doctor will use the appendix or a small piece of bowel to make a new passage for urine to come out. The appendix is a tube about the size and length of a finger that is attached to part of the bowel. Since the appendix is not needed there, the doctor removes it, and opens both ends so it looks like a straw. One end will be “funneled” into the bladder and the other to a small opening on the abdomen or in the belly button. This is called a stoma. To empty the bladder, a catheter is passed through the stoma and into the bladder. The urine will drain out of the catheter.Cystoscopy
Your child will soon be coming to the hospital for a cystoscopy and/or a urethral dilation. This procedure uses a cystoscope to look into the inside of the bladder and the urethra (the tube that leads from the bladder to the outside). Your child may also be scheduled for a dilation. This procedure increases the size of the urethra in the area that is too small or narrow.Hernias and Hydroceles
The testicles begin to develop in the abdomen. In most boys, they move down into the scrotum before birth. As this happens, some of the lining of the abdomen (called the peritoneum) comes down a tube with the testicle. In most boys, the tube that forms the connection between the peritoneum and the scrotum is closed at birth; but in some boys it remains open, forming a pocket. If fluid produced in the abdomen goes into the pocket, then it is called a hydrocele. About 1 in 3 newborn boys will have a small hydrocele; most of them close on their own. If the bowel goes into the pocket, it is called a hernia. Both hernia and hydrocele cause swelling in the scrotum or lower groin. In girls, swelling due to the hernia occurs in the pubic area or lower abdomen.
Hypospadias
Hypospadias is a birth defect of the penis. The urethral opening, the hole where the urine comes out, is not in the normal position; it develops on the undersurface of the penis rather than at the tip.
Meatoplasty
Your child will soon be coming to the hospital for a meatoplasty. A meatoplasty is an operation performed to increase the opening at the tip of the penis (urethral meatus).Nephrectomy
Your child will soon be coming to the hospital for a nephrectomy. This procedure will remove all or part of a kidney that is not functioning well. This information will help prepare you and your child for the procedure.Orchiopexy
Orchiopexy is a surgical procedure to move testicles from the abdomen or groin into the scrotum. Before birth, the testicle moves from the pelvic area down into the scrotum. In some boys, this does not occur and it is called undescended testicles. This may require more than one operation depending on the position of the testes and any other associated problems.
Pyeloplasty
Your child will soon be coming to the hospital for a pyeloplasty. A pyeloplasty is an operation performed to clear away an obstruction at the point where the ureter meets the kidney.Umbilical Hernia
Umbilical hernia is a bulge or protrusion that is seen or felts in the area of the belly button. This bulge is a result of failure of the abdominal wall to completely close during development, leaving an opening for a portion of the intestine and fluid to come through.Ureteral Implantation
Your child needs an operation to prevent urine from backing up from the bladder to the kidney and damaging the kidney tissue. The operation is called a ureteral reimplant.Varicocele and Varicocelectomy Repair
A varicocele is swelling noted in the scrotal area caused by stretched or dilated veins next to the testicle. It is sometimes referred to as a “bag of worms” or a bunch of grapes.MIC Key Feed Tube Care
Urology Education
Constipation
Constipation is having difficulty with stools (bowel movements).Dysfunctional Voiding
Dysfunctional voiding is a term for an abnormal pattern of urination. The symptoms vary and commonly the main symptom is day and night wetting.Gentamicin
Gentamicin is used for that patients intermittent cath with chronic bacteriuria. It is used for irrigating the bladder with a Gentamicin solution, this can be beneficial in helping to prevent urinary tract infections.Intermittent Catheterization
The body holds urine in the bladder, a muscular sac, and empties it through the urethra, a narrow passageway leading outside the body. A small tube called a catheter can be inserted through the urethra to help drain the urine.
Interstim Therapy
Interstim Therapy is an implantable neurostimulator that produces mild electrical pulses that are delivered via the lead to an area near the sacral nerve to help normalize neural activity from the bladder or bowel to the brain.
Labial Adhesion
Labial Adhesions occur when the inner lips of the female genitals (labia) adhere together. Partial labial adhesions mean only the upper or lower part of the labia are adhered together. Complete labial adhesions mean the labia are adhered all the way across. Usually there is still a small opening in the labial that allows urine to leave the body. Adhesions are most common in young girls 3 months to 6 years old.Nocturnal Enuresis
Most children with nocturnal enuresis (nighttime bedwetting) have a delay in their ability to hold urine. Children develop bladder control at different ages. Medical conditions or emotional factors can also cause enuresis. Enuresis may run in some families. If your child urinates normally during the daytime and an infection, then it is very unlikely that anything is wrong in the urinary system.Penile Adhesions
Penile Adhesions in boys occur when the penile shaft skin adheres to the glans or head of the penis. This can happen in both circumcised and uncircumcised boys. The adhesions can be located anywhere around the head of the penis and vary in severity. The adhesions are generally benign and cause no discomfort.Prenatal Hydronephrosis
Hydronephrosis is a dilation of the kidney, specifically in the renal pelvis or the place in the kidney where urine is stored after its production.Retractile Testicles
During pregnancy, the testicles in boy babies actually grow inside the abdominal cavity, not in the scrotum. Four months before birth, a tunnel formed by the smooth lining of the intestinal cavity pushes down through the groin into the scrotum. In some boys, even though the testicle makes the complete trip into the scrotum, that testicle may move up and down along the tunnel.Urinary Tract Infections
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are some of the most common bacterial diseases in children. Girls are more likely to get a UTI than boys, especially after the first few months of life because of the short urethra (tube leading from the bladder to outside of the body). Girls ages 2 to 6 are at the highest risk. Risk also increases if the child is born with a problem in the urinary tract.
Vesicoureteral Reflux
Urine is produced in the kidneys. It travels from the kidneys to the bladder through tubes called ureters. Once the urine enters the bladder, it should remain there until voiding (emptying the bladder) takes place.
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