CHENNAI: Doctors at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER) performed a rare urethral reconstruction (urethroplasty) on a four-year-old girl from West Bengal. The child, who suffered a pelvic fracture in an accident, had been unable to pass urine, and the fluid had been accumulating dangerously in her abdomen.
A temporary drainage tube was placed through her abdomen, but doctors at the hospital in West Bengal warned the family that reconstructive surgery carried a high risk of damaging the urinary sphincters - the muscles that control urine flow - potentially resulting in lifelong incontinence.
Six months later, when the child was brought to the Department of Paediatric Urology at SRIHER, her bladder had completely sealed off, and the urethra, the natural passage below the bladder, was extensively damaged. In a three hour complex surgery, a team of doctors reconstructed the connection between the bladder and the urethra, and preserved sphincter muscle responsible for urinary control.
To ensure safe healing, the team also created a temporary mitrofanoff channel - an alternative route that allowed urine to drain while protecting the reconstructed urinary passage. Fifteen days after the surgery, a scan confirmed that the internal passage healed well, and the child was able to pass urine normally, the release said.