Pediatric Urology Conditions

When children have a urological condition, it may be difficult, embarrassing or simply not possible for them to say what’s wrong. Yet our pediatric urology team has the experience and sensitivity to care for children in a way that helps them feel comfortable.

Often there are several treatment options for urological conditions and our urology specialists will give you all the information you need and answer any questions, so you can feel confident about the option you choose.

Pediatric urological conditions can affect more than one part of the urinary system, but can be divided into kidney (renal) and bladder conditions, and genital conditions. Below are some of the conditions that Nemours urologists treat:

Kidney and Bladder conditions include:

• hydronephrosis - dilation or stretching of the kidney pelvis which is at the top of the ureter, the tube that drains urine from the kidney  
• daytime voiding dysfunction and bedwetting (enuresis), including urgency and frequency
• kidney and bladder stones - when chemicals in the urine crystallize into "stones" in the urinary tract
  
• neurogenic bladder - abnormal function of the bladder due to disease of the central nervous system or peripheral nerves
• urinary tract infections (UTI) - which can affect the lower tract, or bladder, or the upper tract, the kidneys
  
• urinary tract obstruction - any blockage of urine flow along the urinary tract
  
• vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) - the abnormal flow of urine from the bladder back into the ureter

Genital conditions include:

• ambiguous genitalia - a birth defect where the outer genitals do not have the typical appearance of either a boy or a girl
• hydrocele - a buildup of fluid in the scrotum around the testis
• hypospadias - when the opening that carries urine out of the body from the penis  is on the underside, rather than at the tip, of the penis
• inguinal hernia - when an organ, usually a part of the intestine, protrudes through the abdominal wall into the groin area
• meatal stenosis - a narrowing of the opening of the urethra, the tube through which urine leaves the body
  
• testicular torsion - the twisting of the spermatic cord, which cuts off the blood supply to the testis
• undescended testes - when the testes, which form inside the abdomen, fail to move down into the scrotum
• varicoceles - an enlargement of the veins in the scrotum caused by blocked blood flow