Urinary, anal incontinence in kids treatable, say doctors

Nagpur: Krish (name changed), a patient suffering from congenital disorder meningo myelocele, could not hold his urine or stool till the age of 4 years. He underwent surgery for the congenital disorder but his nerve control on the bladder could not be restored.
Shreya (name changed) suffered from bladder exstrophy, another congenital disorder, forced her to live a miserable life till the age of 8. She would carry stink from the towel wrapped round her waist as she kept leaking urine and stool.
Not just these patients but also their families suffered from the unhygienic conditions entailing their disorders.
Their families had resigned to the fact that they would have to live like this forever.
The mitrofanoff procedure came handy for Krish while the bladder reconstruction helped Shreya but their parents weren’t aware of this fact for a long time.
After they underwent surgery, doctors made it possible for both kids and many more like them to live a normal life.
“Our son never had any control over his urine and stool. Till kindergarten, we sent him with a diaper. We thought that the problem was here to stay. Then, we met Dr Deepak Goel and gave him the complete history. He underwent two surgeries and now he doesn’t require a diaper. We just need to do enema once every morning to clear his bowels and bladder. He is enjoying a normal life in school and society,” said Krish’s mother.
She was speaking at the Paediatric Surgery Week celebrations at KIMS Kingsway Hospitals on Saturday.
Dr Goel, paediatric surgeon at the hospital, said this year’s theme is ‘Misearble life of patients with urinary and faecal incontinence’.
“The family suffers as much as the kid. If child is leaking, the mother can’t do any other work. In case of faecal incontinence, there is always a smell in the house,” he said.
Dr Goel further added, “Patients who leak don’t know that they can be treated because they have never consulted a specialist doctor. Krish was operated for meningo myelocele and after that, there was faecal and urinary incontinence. Actually, they didn’t know that it could be treated.”
Regarding Shreya’s case, De Goel said, “We created a neo bladder and a new opening to pass urine. Her urethra was closed. She started remaining dry, resumed regular schooling and normal life. Faecal incontinence too can be managed through enema.”
Dr Vishal Beri, group CEO of Kims Hospitals, Dr Vimmi Goel, non-invasive cardiologist and head PHP, and Dr Manohar Tule, paediatric surgeon and Aejaz Shami, DGM-communications, were present at event.