Treatment of Bladder Stones in Children: Evaluation of the Different Treatment Modalities

Objective: The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate our experience on open cystolithotomy and intracorporeal cystolithotripsy in children with bladder stones. Material and Methods: A total of 23 children with bladder stones were treated at our center between 2007 and 2016. Transurethral removal with basket catheter, transurethral cystolithotripsy / percutaneous cystolithotripsy with laser or open cystolithotomy approaches were preferred. The patients were evaluated according to the operation technique, stone burden, and complications, and compared with each other in terms of these criteria. Results: Three girls and 20 boys, ranging in age from 1 to 16 years were evaluated. Stone sizes ranged from 5 to 50 mm. We preferred transurethral cystolithotripsy in 7 patients, percutaneous cystolithotripsy in 4 patients, open cystolithotomy in 8 patients and transurethral removal with basket catheter in 4 patients. Twenty (87%) patients had no complications. Complications occurred in three patient consisting of a mucosal laceration in one patient and lower urinary tract obstruction due to residual stones in the postoperative period in two patients. The average stone size was 22.6±12 mm in all patients who underwent open cystolithotomy and 16 ± 9.04 mm in patients where the other methods were used. Conclusion: We believe that open cystolithotomy is the most effective treatment method, especially for stones greater than 2 cm