Pediatric urology is the diagnosis and treatment of congenital (i.e., present at birth) and acquired urological conditions and diseases in children. Pediatric urologists treat conditions of the male reproductive tract (e.g., undescended testicle) and the male and female urinary tracts (e.g., urinary tract infection).
The urinary tract consists of the organs that filter the blood and form urine (kidneys), the tubes that carry urine from the kidneys (ureters), the organ that stores urine (bladder), and the tube that carries urine from the bladder and removes it from the body (urethra).
The most common condition treated by pediatric urologists is urinary tract infection (UTI).
Other conditions include the following:
- Abnormally located urethral opening (hypospadias)
- Backup of urine from the bladder into the ureter (vesicoureteral reflux [VUR])
- Bedwetting (nocturnal enuresis)
- Distention of the kidney in utero (antenatal hydronephrosis)
- Ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJ obstruction; may cause kidney damage)
