What are common questions and concerns?

I think the biggest concerns would be: is this going to provide continence, is this a safe operation? The risks of the surgery are probably the biggest concern, because it involves general anesthetic for several hours.

Parents wonder what this means for the future of their child, and I would think that for most of them, it’s a relief that at some point the child may be able to take over responsibility for their care. They have questions about what the stoma is going to look like, where it’s going to be, how visible and how obvious it’s going to look, what that’s going to do for a child. Can they swim, can they play, can they bathe? The answers are yes to each, so the information we give about those concerns is all good news, once we move beyond the discussion of potential complications.

Joseph Borer, MD, Department of Urology