The physicians and staff of the Pediatric Urology Group evaluate and treat your child’s pediatric urological condition with the expertise of a skilled professional and the compassion of a caring parent.
Posterior Urethral Valves (PUV) Repair
Pyeloplasty, daVinci Robotic Assisted
Undescended Testis (Orchiopexy)
Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Treatment
Vesicoureteral Reflux (VUR) Treatment
The hollow organ in the lower abdomen that stores urine.
A thin flexible hollow tube used to drain fluids from body cavities; in this case, passed into the bladder through the urethra to draw off urine.
A pair of organs on the right and left sides of the abdomen that clears poisons from the blood, regulate acid concentrate and maintain water balance in the body by excreting urine.
A procedure to bring an undescended testicle into the scrotum.
A surgical opening between two hollow organs constructed to permit the passage of body fluids or waste products.
Long, narrow ducts that carry urine from the kidney to the bladder.
The surgical creation of a stoma between the anterior bladder wall and the skin of the lower abdomen.
Prune belly syndrome, also known as triad syndrome or Eagle-Barrett syndrome, is a birth defect characterized by the following:
• an absence of abdominal muscles
• undescended testicles (a condition in males where one or both of the testes has not passed down into the scrotal sac)
• abnormal, expanded bladder
• problems in the urinary tract, which may include the bladder, ureters and kidneys
Children with prune belly syndrome are usually unable to completely empty their bladders and suffer from serious bladder, ureter and kidney impairment. This rare condition occurs in about one of 40,000 births, and 95% of the cases are males.
Often, prune belly syndrome can be diagnosed by fetal ultrasound during a woman’s pregnancy. A child who does not have the outward signs of the syndrome but exhibits symptoms maybe tested in one of the following ways:
Renal Ultrasound. A diagnostic imaging technique used to view internal organ function.
Voiding Cystourethorgram (VCUG). An X-ray that examines the urinary tract after a technician places a catheter in the urethra and fills the bladder with liquid dye. X-ray images are taken as the bladder fills and empties.
Intravenous Pyelogram (IVP). A diagnostic imaging technique that uses an X-ray to view the structures of the urinary tract. Dye is injected into the bloodstream and the kidneys extract the dye, after which the X-rays can be done.
Blood Tests. Blood is drawn from the child and tests are run to determine kidney function.
Treatment for prune belly syndrome is based on your child’s age and health, the extent of the disease, any other medical conditions, your child’s tolerance for specific procedures or medications, and expectations for the course of the disease.
Some children may require a vesicostomy to facilitate emptying the bladder of urine. This procedure, done under general anesthesia (while the patient is asleep), involves making an incision in the bladder and moving it forward and suturing the bladder opening to the skin, forming a stoma (a surgically constructed opening). This diverts the flow of urine when the bladder can no longer function as a reservoir.
This procedure typically takes about an hour, and your child will remain in the recovery room for a few hours before being moved to a regular room. Your child will usually stay in the hospital for 2 to 3 days.
Other children may need to undergo extensive surgical restructuring of the abdominal wall and urinary tract. In males, this procedure is called an orchiopexy, which surgically advances the testes into the scrotum.