Journal Reviews
Hypospadias surgery complication rates
These authors identified all children undergoing NHS hypospadias surgery between 1999 and 2009 in England using the hospital episode statistic database and looked at repair types and complications. High-volume centres (24/75) were classified as such if they did more than...
Treatment of varicocele in children and adolescents
Varicocele occur in about 15% of all adolescents. These authors searched Medline, Embase and a number of platforms reporting on varicoses in children and adolescents, including only randomised controlled trials with patients under 21 years. After an initial 198 studies...
Urologists beware!
This article recounts the story of a Californian urologist who was shot dead two decades later by a patient who was diagnosed with stricture of the urethra. The patient underwent surgery for urethral stricture in 1992 by a team (ironically,...
Ureterocystostomy – novel surgery for the paediatric obstructed megaureter
Megaureter is a relatively common congenital urinary tract anomaly; obstructed non-refluxing megaureter is one variant. Initial management is conservative, with operative intervention reserved for symptomatic cases (recurrent pyelonephritis, pain, increasing dilatation or worsening renal function). Surgical options include cutaneous ureterostomy,...
Solifenacin for children and adolescents with overactive bladders
Solifenacin (VESIcare®) is the second-line anti-muscarinic medication of choice for my patients with overactive bladder (oxybutynin being my initial choice). However, currently, it remains unlicensed for use in children. Newgreen et al. have evaluated the long-term safety and efficacy of...
Bladder perforation after augmentation cystoplasty
Delayed bladder perforation is well recognised after augmentation cystoplasty (5-13% of patients) and adult urologists need to be aware of this and identify the best treatment at the time. Mortality rates and re-perforation rates can be up to 25% and...
Clean catch urine from babies – the ‘quick wee method’
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in children and babies and can lead to urosepsis, renal scarring and chronic kidney disease. As per American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines, urine samples are a must in febrile / unwell infants even if...
Reliability of grading of VUR and other findings on VCUG
The gold standard for diagnosing VUR is still the voiding cycstogram (VCUG). These authors looked at the inter observer variability of grading of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) using a VCUG and highlight the implications for treatment and prognosis as a results....
Transfer to tertiary paediatric hospitals for patients with testicular torsion
Although this articles comes from a tertiary centre in Columbus, USA, there are similarities with the current controversies in the UK. The authors carried out a five-year retrospective review looking at the surgical transfer of 125 patients (mean age 13.4,...
Which is better – laparoscopic or open paediatric pyeloplasty?
In an attempt to answer the above question, Gatti et al. undertook a randomised controlled trial between 2005 and 2014. All children aged 1 to 18 years of age requiring surgery for pelviureteric junction (PUJ) obstruction were enrolled. A total...
Does maternal exposure during pregnancy to higher ambient temperature increase the risk of hypospadias?
The search for the causes of hypospadias continues at a pace. These authors from Turkey extrapolated other findings about the higher incidence of congenital anomalies in babies during summer months’ gestation to studying the risks of high ambient temperature during...
Ten years of experience with intravesical and intrasphincteric botulinum toxin A in children
This is one of the longest follow-up studies of botulinum toxin A usage in children with bladder dysfunction in the paediatric literature. Fifty-three children had Botox® (Allergan) injected for a variety of reasons (spina bifida – 18, acquired cord injury...
