Article Type : Case Report
Authors : Mandal T, Halder P, Mandal KC, Chakraborty P and Mukhopadhyay B
Keywords : Children; Foreign body; Sharp; Management; Urethra; Anesthesia, Awareness
Children
with Self-inflicted urethral foreign body is rare. They need careful
observation and evaluation as the urethral injury is troublesome with
sharp/pointed or relatively long objects. Awareness about the entity makes the
diagnosis easier and so also its management. Here we report two such cases who
presented to us with acute urinary retention due to urethral foreign body. We treated them successfully by removing the
foreign bodies under anesthesia.
Foreign body (FB) in
the urethra has rarely been reported in pediatric age group. Children usually
insert a FB to the urethra for autoerotic, mental illness, or no definite
reasons. The diagnosis requires prior clinical experiences with an awareness of
the entity as a suggestive clinical history may not always be available [1].
The management of these patients depends on the type, size, location, shape and
mobility of the FB and the expertise of the treating doctor. We present two
cases of urethral FB and discuss their presentations, diagnosis, and
management.
Case
one
A 5-year-old boy was
brought to the emergency with a history of self-insertion of a long slender FB
(hairclip) in the urethra. His mother narrated that the child suddenly started
crying while playing. Mother saw a tip of hairclip in the urethral meatus. There
was difficulty in voiding, and they rush to the hospital without any attempt of
manipulating it. The patient was restless and unable to pass urine (urinary
bladder was full). On examination we found a tip a hair clip within the
urethra. The child did not have any previous history of mental illness or
psychological disorder. An X – Ray was done to know the exact location and the
plan for further treatment. Patient was resuscitated accordingly and the FB was
gently removed under anesthesia with the help of an artery forceps (Figure 1).
There was no clinical evidence of urethral injury or urethral bleeding. The
patient was catheterized for 24 hours and discharged on the next day. On
3-weeks follow-up the child was doing well.
Case two
A 2-year-old girl was
presented to the emergency with excessive crying and pain in suprapubic region.
During history taking we suspected the urethral FB and found the same being
impacted in the urethra at its distal part. There was no history of burning
micturation, hematuria, and colicky abdominal pain. There was no past history
of mental illness. We brought the patient to the operation theatre (OT) for
evaluation under anesthesia (EUA). During EUA, we noticed a round FB with an
uneven surface was impacted in the distal end of the urethra. We removed it
simply with a forceps (Figure 2). The patient was kept in observation for 24
hours and discharged on the next day.
A FB in the urethra is
a urologic emergency. Self-inserted FB in children with psychosocial problems
have been reported in literature. The types of FB includes pencil, electric
cables, pins, metal rods, hair clips, screws, tiny toys, needles, wires etc. K Naidu
et al. showed a male preponderance of the condition (male: female=1.7:1) [2].
The possible causes of self-insertion of urethral FB include auto-erotic sexual
stimulation, psychiatric illness, iatrogenic or no defined reason. However,
none of our patients had above stated medical illness. These patients may
present with symptoms of urinary tract irritation, dysuria, lower abdominal/
pelvic pain, acute urinary retention, microscopic or gross hematuria, and fever
[3].
Awareness of this
entity should be raised by various academic events from doctors to the health
care provider in primary health care level as they are the first level of
contact of the health systems. Additionally, screening of mental health and
motive of the patient should be addressed to prevent the subsequent occurrence.