At UROVALLARTA Urological Center, we not only take care of urinary and genital problems in adults (women and men), but also in girls and boys.
There are problems, which we classify as congenital or from birth, and acquired, meaning they occur after birth. Due to the immaturity of our kidneys, ducts (ureters and urethra), and bladder, diagnosing and treating these problems is of great importance, which can prevent them from deteriorating at an early age.
Common symptoms:
- Recurrent urinary infections, from even months of being born. Interestingly, despite the presence of infection, children do not always report burning when urinating; in the vast majority, it's only lower abdominal pain, seemingly spontaneous fever, fatigue, lack of appetite.
- Blood in the urine, called hematuria, which can be visibly obvious (macroscopic) or only visible in urine tests (microscopic).
- Abdominal distension, often on one side, which may be related to distension or presence of a tumor in one kidney. When abdominal distension is present below the navel, it's necessary to investigate if the problem is related to the urinary bladder.
- Involuntary urine leakage (urinary incontinence), often nocturnal, called enuresis. This can be present from the birth of the baby, to late childhood, even adolescence. It can also occur after our child had control over urination and suddenly starts having nocturnal leakage again.
TESTICULAR PROBLEMS
During the growth stage, boys can suffer from testicular problems.
Hydrocele, characterized by an increase in the size of the testicles from very early ages, is one of the most common disorders. Often, this problem appears without symptoms beyond the increase in size, and because it is not painful, its importance may be overlooked.
Another common situation is the absence of the testicles in the scrotal sac (due to not having descended properly) or retractile testicles, which are sometimes in the scrotum and other times in the groin.
CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS
From birth, children can suffer from malformations.
The most common are having a curved penis or the urethra in an incorrect location.
Regarding the latter, sometimes the urethra, instead of being located at the tip of the glans, is in another area of the glans or even at the base of the penis.