Your kidneys, bladder, urethra, and ureters play a prominent role in removing waste products from your system through urine. Your ureters carry the urine from the kidneys to your bladder. The urine is stored in the bladder until it passes out of your body through the urethra while urinating. When this process turns abnormal, and your urine reverses from the bladder, it causes Vesicoureteral reflux. It can occur in two ways:

• Primary Vesicoureteral reflux: Children who suffer from primary vesicoureteral reflux are born with a defect. The valve that stops the urine from flowing back to the bladder has a defect. Primary vesicoureteral reflux may cure on its own as your child grows older because the ureters grow in length and become stronger, reversing the reflux. Although the cause of primary vesicoureteral reflux is unknown, it may be genetic.
• Secondary Vesicoureteral reflux: Secondary Vesicoureteral reflux occurs when the bladder fails to empty. This condition may be caused by nerve damage, a blockage, or failure of the bladder muscle to control and void properly.

In many cases, Vesicoureteral reflux may not cause any symptoms. If symptoms do occur, urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common symptom caused by bacteria. Some of the symptoms of urinary tract infection are:

• Burning sensation while urinating
• Pain while urinating
• Bloody or cloudy urine
• Stinking urine
• Abdominal pain
• Strong and urgent urge to urinate
• Sudden or frequent urination
• Wetting
• Fever because of a UTI
• Urinating in small quantities

Some other symptoms of Vesicoureteral reflux are:

• There may be a mass in the abdominal region caused by a swollen bladder
• There may be a loss of appetite
• High blood pressure
• There may be either constipation or a loss of control on bowel movements
• There may be trouble urinating. You can wet pants or your bed because of an urgency to urinate

Vesicoureteral reflux is diagnosed by your doctor through the following tests:

• Voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG): In this procedure, an x-ray dye is injected into your bladder. Images are taken while you urinate to check whether the urine flows back to both the kidneys or only one kidney.
• Radionuclide cystogram (RNC): This procedure is similar to VCUG, except that the dye used is different. This dye is made of radioactive material.
• Blood test: Blood tests are conducted to check whether your kidneys are functioning properly.
• Urodynamics: This test checks how well your bladder is functioning. The function of the bladder is to collect, hold, and then release urine.
• Urine test: This test checks whether you have blood or protein in your urine, which indicates a UTI.
• Abdominal ultrasound: This test gets images of the entire urinary tract to check whether there are kidney scars.

Your doctor will decide on the line of treatment, depending on the severity of your Vesicoureteral reflux. The treatment of Vesicoureteral reflux include:

• Antibiotics: Your doctor will prescribe antibiotics if you have a urinary tract infection. Antibiotics will also prevent the infection from spreading to the kidneys.
• Deflux: Your doctor will inject a gel-like liquid into the bladder. The gel will create a bulge in the bladder, preventing the urine from flowing back to the bladder instead of passing.
• Surgery: If your doctor suspects that your kidneys are suffering damage because of vesicoureteral reflux, he will recommend conducting surgery to repair the valve that causes Vesicoureteral reflux. Your doctor may opt for open surgery, robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery, or endoscopic surgery.

Vesicoureteral reflux is mostly curable if diagnosed and treated on time. Most children are cured with antibiotics, and in severe cases, surgery. Treatment should begin early to prevent kidney damage.

The Vesicoureteral reflux surgery is usually long, and your child will be under general anaesthesia. The risks could be an infection after the surgery. Although open surgery is effective, robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery and endoscopic surgery may not be very helpful. The complications of open surgery include contralateral reflux. Surgery may also lead to pelvic nerve damage.

These are the risks associated with Kidney cancer surgery:

• Reaction with anaesthesia
• Too much bleeding
• Infection
• Incisional hernia
• Leakage of urine into the stomach
• Kidney failure
• Leakage of air in the chest cavity (pneumothorax)