Pediatric voiding cystourethrography: An essential examination for urologists but a terrible experience for children.

Voiding cystourethrography is the most important fluoroscopic examination in pediatric urology for the investigation of lower urogenital tract diseases, such as vesicoureteral reflux or urethral stricture. However, this invasive procedure imposes a significant burden on children and their parents, and recently there has been a paradigm shift in the diagnosis and treatment of vesicoureteral reflux. In the 2011 revision, the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines on urinary tract infection recommended abandoning routine voiding cystourethrography after the first febrile urinary tract infection. In 2014, the randomized intervention for children with vesicoureteral reflux study recommended discontinuation of routine continuous antibiotic prophylaxis for vesicoureteral reflux. The time is now ripe to radically reconsider indications for voiding cystourethrography and the procedure itself.

International journal of urology : official journal of the Japanese Urological Association. 2018 Dec 19 [Epub ahead of print]

Kazuyoshi Johnin, Kenichi Kobayashi, Teruhiko Tsuru, Tetsuya Yoshida, Susumu Kageyama, Akihiro Kawauchi

Department of Urology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga, Japan.