title: Factors responsible for successful primary closure in bladder exstrophy.
abstract: To assess the important factors for successful primary closure in staged reconstruction of bladder exstrophy, 25 patients (18 males, 7 females) underwent primary bladder closure during the years 1993-1997. Twenty-one were more than 72 h old; all of these underwent bilateral posterior iliac osteotomies followed by primary bladder closure during the same anesthetic. Bladder closure was done in a double layer. The ureteric catheters were removed after 2 weeks and the bladder catheter after 3.5-4 weeks. Only 1 patient had a bladder dehiscence on the 10th postoperative day due to infection; 3 had partial wound dehiscences but no bladder dehiscence. One had a partial bladder prolapse. The osteotomies needed no drainage, and no complications occurred. One patient needed a urinary diversion 3 years after surgery as the bladder capacity did not increase. Eleven important factors play a pivotal role for successful primary bladder closure: (1) Proper patient selection; (2) A staged approach; (3) Anterior approximation of the pubic bones with placement of the bladder and urethra in the true pelvis; (4) Posterior bilateral iliac osteotomies in all indicated cases; (5) Double-layered closure of the bladder; (6) Two weeks' proper ureteric catheter drainage; (7) Prevention of infection; (8) Prolonged and proper postoperative immobilization; (9) Prompt treatment of bladder prolapse; (10) Prevention of abdominal distension postoperatively; and (11) Ruling out bladder-outlet obstruction before removing the bladder catheter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Surgery, KEM Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Kasat
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Borwankar
mesh_terms: D001746:Bladder Exstrophy / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007085:Ilium / Q000601:surgery; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010027:Osteotomy; D013529:Surgical Wound Dehiscence / Q000453:epidemiology; D014546:Urinary Catheterization