Table of Contents
How is urachus patent treated?
The most common surgical therapy for patent urachus is complete excision, with or without excision of the bladder dome. Low complication rates have been reported, with the most common complication being wound infection. Recently, laparoscopic excision has been described as an alternative therapeutic approach.
What is the purpose of the urachus?
The urachus is a fibrous cord arising from the early fetal anterior bladder wall to the allantois, extending cranially to the umbilicus [1]. In the first trimester of gestation, the role of the urachus is to facilitate the removal of the neonate’s nitrogenous waste through the placenta via the umbilical cord [1].
Do urachal remnants need to be removed?
In many cases, the medical team may recommend surgery to remove the remnant because of the possibility of complications and because it is associated with a rare, but aggressive form of cancer. In most cases the anomaly can be removed and recovery is uneventful.
What causes a patent urachus?
Patent urachus refers to a spectrum of umbilical disorders that result from the failure of involution of normal embryologic tissues that connect the developing bladder to the umbilical cord.
How is patent urachus diagnosed?
If There Is a Sinus (abnormal opening) But a few cases have an open pathway from the bladder to the belly button. This is called a patent urachus. This can be confirmed by testing urea and creatinine levels in the fluid. These levels would be high if the fluid was urine from a bladder connection.
Is belly button connected to bladder?
In an open (or patent) urachus, there is an opening between the bladder and the belly button (navel). The urachus is a tube between the bladder and the belly button that is present before birth. In most cases, it closes along its full length before the baby is born. An open urachus occurs mostly in infants.
What is patent urachus?
When is urachus formed?
Around the 4th to 5th gestational months, involution of the allantois and urogenital sinus occurs as the bladder descends into the pelvis, forming the urachus, which elongates and becomes a fibromuscular cordlike structure connecting the apex of the bladder to the umbilicus.
How is a urachal cyst removed?
Treatment of urachal cysts is complete excision due to the risk of malignant transformation. Single-stage excisions result in significantly more complications and longer hospitalization, whereas the two-stage approach, i.e., an incision and drainage followed by a secondary excision, is usually complication free [4, 6].
What is urachal remnant surgery?
Urachal remnants (UR) represent a failure in the obliteration of the allantois, which connects the bladder to the umbilicus, at birth. Surgical management of UR in children is controversial. The traditional surgical approach involves a semicircular intraumbilical incision or a lower midline laparotomy.
What is malformation of urachus?
Problems related to the urachus, or the canal between the belly button and the bladder in a fetus, are called urachal abnormalities. The canal is usually closed before birth. One symptom is wetness near the belly button.
How common is urachal remnant?
This ligament runs from the belly button to the top of the bladder and is called the median umbilical ligament. Sometimes, there are tissue remnants of the urachus in adults (about 1/3 of adults have urachal tissue remnants). This usually does not cause any problems.
What can be done about a patent urachus?
Patent urachus. antibiotic therapy. surgical removal of the infected navel structures (thereby removing the source of further infection) and closure of the opening between the urachus and the bladder.
Can a patent urachus cause a bladder infection?
If the urachus remains completely open, it is known as a patent urachus. This type of abnormality makes up 50% of all urachal anomalies. If the urachus remains open all the way to the bladder, there is the danger that bacteria will enter the bladder through the open tube and cause infection.
Can a sinus cyst cause a patent urachus?
When the wetness is more extreme, it may be because there is an opening, or sinus, from the bladder to the belly button from which urine is leaking. When this happens, it’s called a patent urachus. Urachal abnormalities are much less common in older children or adults. These often take the forms of lumps, or cysts, which can become infected.
About 65% of all urachal problems appear as a sinus or drainage opening at the belly button. Most of those are not connected all the way to the bladder. But a few cases have an open pathway from the bladder to the belly button. This is called a patent urachus. This can be confirmed by testing urea and creatinine levels in the fluid.