Incontinence following surgery for imperforate anus and hypospadias

[Sazzy1057]

My son is nearly 4 and was born with imperforate anus and hypospadias. he has had surgery to correct both but has had incontinence issues since. I am more concerned about his urine incontinence as during the surgeries alot of the nerves to his bladder were cut through so I'm not sure if he will ever be continent? he has damp patches ranging from small circles to big ones throughout the day, and even bigger if he is ill. he wears nappy pants at night and is wet almost every morning. if he increases his fluid intake his wet patches are even bigger or he will go for a massive wee then 10 minutes later another massive wee.

I'm really confused about how to deal with this. does anyone have any advice or any experience with these issues?

thank you in advance!

[ERIC-Charity Partner]

Hi Sazzy. It is not a concern that he is still weeing at night as lots of children don't achieve night-time dryness until age 5. But is a bit concerning that he will go for a massive wee then 10 minutes later will have another massive wee. This could be caused by his bladder not emptying properly the first time round - this is not uncommon with the type of surgery he has had and his surgeon and/or specialist nurse team at the hospital could follow up to investigate. Scans like a bladder scan before and after weeing (to see how his bladder is emptying) and maybe even an MRI scan of the spine to rule out an underlying cause would be really helpful for him, and will show how his problem could be fixed. Even though he is having massive wees it is still important for him to drink 8 cups of water based drink every day as this is the best way to improve bladder health.

It sounds like you have both been through an awful lot, and I think a lot of people on this forum can understand your worries for him. If you ever want to chat or ask some questions our Helpline is open Monday-Thursday.

ERIC

[Sazzy1057 in reply to ERIC-Charity]

thank you so much