Incontinence

The involuntary release of urine (incontinence) can be a complication in children born with spina bifida and other neurological conditions. However, more treatment options are available today to provide these children with an improved quality of life.

A newer treatment option for children with abnormal urinary sphincter muscles is collagen injections. The Babies & Children's Hospital was the first medical center in the NY area to offer collagen injections to children. This outpatient procedure requires only a brief general anesthetic.

Treatment for incontinence also may involve implanting an artificial sphincter to replace a damaged or absent urinary sphincter. Babies Hospital urologists have been implanting these devices since 1978.
Babies Hospital urologists have been implanting these devices since 1978.

If the storage capacity of the bladder is not large enough, our physicians can perform bladder augmentation to increase the size of the bladder can be helped with a surgical construction of a continent diversion. This procedure involves creating an opening on the abdomen through which a catheter is inserted that empties the new bladder. The new bladder is constructed out of the child's own gastrointestinal tract. Our nursing staff provides a full range of training and support for clean intermittent catheterization (CHIC) which is the most common for the treatment of children with neurogenic bladders.