Pediatric Urology

[livingwith]

Like many readers here, my child has been getting yearly VCUG’s due to reflux diagnosed in utero. I am horrified to hear of adults writing that they remember having these tests as children and that it scarred them emotionally for life.
Should we all insist on sedation for these tests? My child is on antibiotics and will likely continue to have yearly VCUG tests. I hope someone can ease my mind about this. We follow doctors’ orders, but it is horrible to watch your child have a VC...Read the full article

[amonday9]

I wanted to let you know first I am one of those children, however I don't remember!! I was about 2 the last time I had this done as a child- however I had to start the fun up again this year and even as an adult it is no fun!! I have passed this lovely problem of mine (reflux and bladder problems) to my children my oldest is 3- she had her last one about 6 mths ago and is supposedly "cured" we shall see- She had her first at 18 mths and she screamed through the whole thing- HOWEVER!! my doctor discovered a few months after that first experience a facility in a neighbooring town that does this procedure and SEDATEDS them!!! Basically the give them a stronger version of the laughing gas, no needles- an anthesisologist (I know I spelt that wrong) was the one to oversee this- my daughter basically fell asleep in slow motion (which is actually kind of funny if they are talking to you when it takes effect :)) she woke up a bit out of it later, but it was awesome!!! We had to pay a bit more but it was worth every penny!! I was so thankful that my doctor had taken the time to find this place and refer us there- My 6 mth old is about to have her second one done, but this hasn't been offered to her yet due to her age? I'm not sure how old they have to be- I'm guessing 2? I hope this helps- if you live in Texas let me know and I will get the name of that facility- good luck!!

[julz]

I can understand your scare. My 18 month old daughter just had the ultrasound yesterday. She is a very brave little girl, but after laying there tied down and being twisted from side to side she was terrified! Now to find out after 6 months of anti's she will have to go through the whole ordeal again. It breaks my heart that such a little person has to go through that. Is sedating a good idea? And will they do it??

[amonday9]

yes they will sedate, but it is different than you think- my 8 mth old is about to have her second vcug and i asked if she was too young to sedate and they said no- my oldest daughter was 2 1/2 when they did this w/ her so i wasn't sure how old they had to be. when they sedate it is more like a heavy laughing gas- it puts them completely to sleep but there were no needles involved- i highly recommend doing this- the first time my oldest had her vcug she was about 15 mths old and she screamed bloody murder the whole time, and even managed to fight her way out of the retraints- my youngest had this at a 3 days old the first time so of course she screamed too, infants scream at everything!! the second time around w/ my oldest was so much better!! i can't even tell you how worth it it was! less tramatic to her as well as me! you have to go w/ your gut on this, but i just can't say enough about how much better it was w/ sedation!!

[julz]

Thank you! I will ask...she has this done at the Dell Children's Hospital in Austin and the staff there are just wonderful. I hope this is it for her. I wonder if they can give me anything to help me through it (LOL)!

[amonday9]

just wanted to check in and see if you where able to sedated your daughter for her vcug??

[sujshee]

I feel the same. My daughter had her 1st vcug at 8 months, she had 3 more over the next year. They were all horrible exsperiences. She's 5 now and everytime we go to the DR. she asks if they're going to "poke" her. It makes me mad to find out that they could have sedated her. I would insist on it now.

[amonday9]

i have learned since posting about my daughter being sedated for her vcug, that this is an uncommon practice. most hospitals will not do this procedure. we are lucky enough to live in a large metroplex which offers a lot of medical facilties, we didn't actually take her to a hospital for the sedation procedure, but an imaging facility that has an anestisoilgist (i know that is horribly mis-spelled!) on site to administer "the gas"- this wasn't avaliable to us 3 1/2 yrs ago on my oldest daughters 1st vcug, so this may be a newer thing?? i know it has been a god send for both my daughters and i trully know now how thankful i should be!!

[jfw]

We went to Plano Pediatric Imaging in Plano Tx. It is a light sedation so when they wake it up, it takes about ~30-45 min for the cob webs to disappear. It takes most of the day for urination without burning pain to go away. It was the same radiologist that was at Medical City Dallas and the facility. At the time, Medical City Dallas did not offer sedation.

Also guess what, we got a different result with same radiologist. Why, we think when sedation was not used, the child jump up and down and cause "rushing" the result" while sedation is calm and get the job done right.

Health insurance cover everything but as in all cases, you must verify each doctor and facility is in network for your plan. (pediatric anesthesiologist, pediatric radiologist and facility)

My recommendation is to go for sedation, but you need to find them. They will have a pediatric anesthesiologist.

[amonday9]

Plano imaging is where we went to! both of my daughters have now gone there, and I love it!! sedation is the only way to go!!! I wish it was offered everywhere to everyone!!! I feel trully blessed to have it near us!