Stones Removed from 3-year-old Boy's Urinary Bladder in Hyderabad

Urinary bladder stones were removed from a three-year-old boy by doctors at a Hyderabad hopital. The boy was suffering from difficulty while passing urine, and used to cry every time, and was suffering a frequent episodes of high grade fever for over a month. The child was initially treated for urinary tract infection with medication by a children specialist which gave some temporary relief but then the same complaints recurred again. He was referred to Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology’s (AINU), HITEC City branch, where he was diagnosed with two stones – one in the urinary bladder and another in the left ureter (a tube which connects the kidney and urinary bladder).

Both the stones were approximately 1.6cms which are relatively large for a three-year-old boy. The challenge was to remove these stones without causing any further complications.

Dr Deepak Ragoori, Senior Consultant Urologist and Facility Director, AINU, said : “These stones are normally removed through urethra (urinary passage ) in adults but it is not the same in children as the caliber of the urethra is narrow and if we attempt the same, we might cause damage to the urethra which will result in stricture urethra there by becoming a problem for the rest of the life. Another alternative was to make a hole in the bladder just below the belly button and then remove stones, which is a more invasive technique.”

Keeping in mind the age of the child and potential complications of the conventional surgery, the team at AINU, HITEC City headed by Dr Ragoori, Dr M. Taif Bendigeri, Dr Prabhu Karunakaran, a paediatric urologist, Dr Leela Krishna and Dr Nityanand Lanka, the chief anaesthesiologist, decided to go ahead with the endoscopic surgical option with laser lithotripsy.

“With ever improving technology and miniaturisation of endoscopic instruments we were able to perform the surgery with instruments that are designed for children in specific and using an advanced Thulium Fiber laser. The stones were completely transformed to fine dust and sucked out with a suction machine. The surgery was completed in less than 45 minutes with no complications and the child was sent home the very next day. He was able to pass urine with no difficulty,” doctors said.

Kidney stones in children are formed primarily due to some metabolic errors or congenital deformities, and an expert team of super specialty doctors is needed for effective and safe treatment.

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