MANAGEMENT OF BLADDER NECK OBSTRUCTION IN CHILDREN

Abstract

The management of bladder neck obstruction in children involves the same fundamental principles as those involved in obstruction at the bladder neck in adults. The types of obstruction encountered are contracture of the internal vesical orifice, congenital prostatic valves, and, rarely, hypertrophy of the colliculus seminalis. In the past, published articles have placed too much emphasis on congenital prostatic valves as a cause of bladder neck obstruction in children, giving the impression that such obstruction occurs predominantly in males. In our experience contracture of the internal vesical orifice has been by far the most common type of obstruction encountered. In a series of 81 patients this type was found in 78, whereas congenital prostatic valves were the cause of the obstruction in only 3 patients. In the group with contracture, about half the patients were males and about half females. We have not encountered obstruction due to congenital hypertrophy of