Children may also experience urinary difficulties —Expert

Contrary to the belief of many, a medical expert, Professor Olayiwola Shittu has said that children can also suffer urinary difficulty due to errors of development in the womb before birth.

In a 2016/2017 inaugural lecture of the University of Ibadan, Professor Shittu declared that most often in boys, such a difficulty in passing urine is caused by an obstruction in bladder outlet.

Although difficulty in passing urine could occur at any age, he said this is  a problem that should not be overlooked.

According to him, “difficulty in urination is easy to note, you cannot be passing urine with difficulty and think that it is alright; you cannot be passing urine with blood in it or wake up 10 times in the night to pass urine and think it is alright. The same is a day old child not passing urine.”

Aside impairment in urination caused by developmental errors in the womb, the expert said urination problem could also arise from infections, falls, road traffic accidents injuries, injuries sustained during treatments, abnormal growths within and around the urinary tracts and blockage of the tract by urinary tract stones.

The don said that urine is usually stored temporarily in the urinary bladder before being discharged through the urethra, adding that any impairment or obstruction in the normal urine flow along this tract that is not restored quickly can lead to kidney failure.

“Consequent upon kidney failure, waste products from body metabolism will accumulate and gradually lead to a general systemic failure and death,” he declared.

Professor Shittu, however, declared that through reconstructive surgery, the obstruction can be removed to ensure normal urine flow is restored in order to prevent kidney failure.