A team of urologists at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, led by the Head of the Department of Surgery, Professor J. E. Mensah, has successfully performed a complete bladder repair surgery for an 18-year-old boy.
In a procedure known as Bladder Exstrophy Epispadias Complex Surgery, the team closed the bladder and abdomen and repaired the urethra and outer sexual organs of the boy because they were not well formed.
Apart from the bladder, the patient’s penis was also not well formed and, therefore, had to be corrected through the operation.
The rare abnormal congenital procedure needed to be performed just after birth but due to financial difficulties, the young man suffered silently until Doctors for Africa Group, an NGO, stepped in to help.
The patient was referred from the Wenchi Hospital in the Bono Region where he was diagnosed of bladder problems.
Because the bladder was a birth deformity, it was unable to store urine, leading to leakage.
Rare condition
The congenital abnormality is a rare condition which allows urine to leak all the time.
As a result, the patient had to resort to wearing of diapers which affected the young man’s education.
At 18 years, he is still in primary school when he should have completed Senior High School (SHS).Â
Successful surgery
The Head of Surgery and his team of urologists have, however, managed to create a urinary diversion into the large intestines where the patient can now freely urinate and pass stool.
However, he will not be able to urinate through his penis again.
Currently, the patient is no longer leaking urine while the condition of the penis has been corrected to enable him to enjoy sexual life in future.
The patient, who has recovered from the surgery, has since been discharged from the hospital.
The team of urologists who undertook the procedure expressed appreciation to the NGO for its intervention.
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