Obstructing urethral membrane in a girl: a rare cause of female bladder outlet obstruction

Abstract

Bladder outlet obstruction is known to produce back pressure changes on the urinary tract with devastating sequelae more often than not. Among the causes, posterior urethral valve, which is the most common, is documented to occur exclusively in males. Female posterior urethral valves have been reported in the past in less than 25 cases in existing literature. We discuss the case of a female toddler who presented with symptoms of straining to void and recurrent urinary tract infections. On evaluation, she was found to have an obstructing urethral membrane causing bladder outlet obstruction, which was endoscopically ablated with success.

Keywords: Paediatric Surgery; Urological surgery.