[ Dr Jimmy Shad ]
There’s a wide spectrum of urological aliments in children. In today’s world, we have specialists available who are trained to treat these problems in children.
Urological problems are phimosis (tight foreskin of penis), inguinal hernia-hydrocele, undescended testis, hypospadias (when urethral tip is located on the undersurface of penis), epispadias or bladder extrophy, posterior urethral valve (PUV), hydronephrosis (swelling in kidney), vesico ureteric reflux (backwards flow of urine from bladder to kidney), kidney tumour, kidney stones, etc.
What is hypospadias?
Hypospadias is a condition when the opening of the urethra is in the undersurface instead of the tip of the penis, with chordee (downward bend of the penis) and hooded prepuce (deficient ventral foreskin). Surgical repair is the only treatment. Parents need to consult a hypospadiologist (paediatric urologist). The ideal time to go for surgery is 6-9 months.
What is undescended testis?
When one or both the testis fail to reach into the scrotal bags, we call the condition undescended testis. There are more chances of having undescended testis in premature-born babies than full-term babies. The condition can be diagnosed at birth and can be safely observed till three months of life. When parents need to consult, the testis if not descended, needs surgical intervention. Here, too, surgery should be done ideally when the kid is 6-9 months old. If not, this can cause serious consequences on the testicular and hormonal growth of a child.
Seek help early for hydronephrosis
Hydronephrosis is an enlargement of kidney and renal pelvis, which can be due to a wide spectrum of causes that are treatable by surgery. Parents should seek a paediatric urologist’s opinion, as some of them may require early surgical intervention.
Most of these conditions are managed by minimally invasive procedures like natural hole procedures (endoscopy) and laparoscopic or robotic modalities.
Advice to parents
We tend to see a lot of parents bringing in their kids at a very late stage and this usually happens due to lack of awareness. So, it is important to consult an expert when such situations arise, and as early as possible.” (Dr Jimmy Shad is senior consultant, paediatric urology & hypospadiologist, Apollo Children’s Hospitals, Chennai)
