The following pictures may be too graphic for some people. To us they are just our kids, but they do show ostomies and catheters. I'm putting them up so that other parents can see what they look like in case their children are in need of one of these surgeries.

Here are a few pictures of pyelostomies and ureterostomies. These are holes made right into the ureter or kidney to let urine flow right out of the body. Some babies and children need these because their ureters and bladder are damaged.

		This little boy is having a urine sample taking from his ureterostomy.

Often when PUV babies have their ureters reimplanted into the bladder they need a stint to drain urine and help the area heal. Sometimes the stint can come out the lower abdomen area as well. When it is removed it only leaves a small hole that closes up on its own.

You can just see this little one's vesicostomy. It looks like another belly button a little lower down. A vesicostomy is a hole that goes right into the bladder to allow urine to flow right out. Some PUV kids have this and never need a ureterostomy or pyelostomy, but if the ureters are very stretched out, it might be better to divert the urine higher up, so there is less of a chance for urine to get stuck inside the kidneys or ureters.

Here is another little guy who has a vesicostomy. Sometimes the bladder "pooches" out of the hole. Sometimes this is ok, other times it causes the vesicostomy to fail and it needs to be fixed.

Of course having holes so high up on the body presents an interesting diapering situation. Here is one little guy who is almost all diaper!



Here's a guy who's PUVs caused him complete renal failure. This pictures shows his hemo dialysis catheter (in his upper chest with the square bandage). He was on hemo dialysis for a short time while his g-tube healed. You can see the g-tube (looks like the valve on a beach ball sort of) on the side of his tummy. Then there is also his peritoneal dialysis catheter. That is the long tube hanging out of his tummy. The exit site is covered with another square bandage. Unfortunatly most children with renal failure do not want to eat, so they need a feeding tube either up their nose or surgically placed right into their stomach.

Another little boy who needed dialysis. You can see his Tenckhoff Catheter coming out of his tummy. This type of catheter is used for peritoneal dialysis. The tube coming out of his nose is a NG (naso-gastric) tube. It is used for feeding, just like a g-tube.

Here he is with a Bard Button to replace his NG tube

This little boy was born with Prune Belly Syndrome. With PBS the stomach muscles are very weak or they don't form at all. This one has had surgery to help with the stomach muscles.

Here is a picture of the bladder wall taken during a cystoscopy (where they look up into the urethra and bladder). This picture shows trebeculation. This is what can happen to the walls of the bladder in a child with PUVs or other obstructive uropathy. If too much of the bladder wall looks like this, there can be serious bladder problems.

Here is a drawing of what is known as Type I PUV. We beleive this to be the most common type of PUV, although most parents never know which type their child has or had.

I have added a link to a page where you can see a real type I puv. This is from a disected urethra and is not a drawing. You can view this picture HERE


Often kids with various urologic disorders have to have a lot of tests. A Mag III is one test that can determine kidney function. Another name is a Lasix Renal Scan. Babies and smaller children sometimes need to be sedated and/or strapped down so they can't move around a lot. This little boy has been sedated as well as strapped down.




This boy was born with VATERS. He needed to have ostomies as well as a vesicostomy that he can cath through to empty his bladder.

Little guy has Eagle Barrett Syndrome (Prune Belly Syndrome). Here he is after surgery for his scoliosis in his new brace.

This little one just had a surgery called pyeloplasty. It's usually used to correct a UPJ obstruction.

This picture shows various scars. One is from the belly button down, that is from ureter reimplant surgery. The one you can hardly see is from his kidney transplant. The indented type scar is from his peritoneal dialysis catheter (was in that spot for 4 years). You can also see his Bard button, a gtube used for feeding and/or fluids.


Below you can see the scar from his nephrectomy and kidney transplant.




Here is a boy with a kidney belt, made to protect his back, where his kidneys are. He only has one kidney left, so they don't want to take any chances with it!





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