After the VCUG - Confirmed Kidney Reflux

My daughter had the re-implantation surgery but she was 15 and did not grow out of it. We opted and the urologist opted for surgery. We could have done the delux but there is still more of a risk of it coming back and we just wanted to be completely done with it. However for your daughters age I personally would do the delux. It is non invasive and I think would be best for now. Good luck! I know it's rough going through all this! We used dr Ewalt very very great dr!

My daughter was first diagnosed with urinary reflux when she was 4 months old. VCUG followed by back to back UTIs and constant fever were her symptoms. At her age she was diagnosed with Stage 2 but we were told that when they are retested a year later some show worse because of sedation. She has since had 2 more and she is a definite Grade 3 urinary reflux. She has been on daily antibiotics since first diagnosed. Due to her age when diagnosed her urologist mentioned that most kids will grow out of it by the time they are 4 years old. We see her urologist every 6 months with an ultrasound of her kidneys and bladder, have a VCUG every September and she takes an antibotic once daily. They do rotate antibiotics to help prevent resistances. If she has any UTIs/kidney infections even on the antibiotics then we will have the deflux procedure. At her age she has to go under anesthesia for it if we did it now. She has done great on just the antibiotics. The first time she was on the Bactrim she had some diarrhea but it cleared up within a few days and she hasn't had a problem since with it. She has taken it twice. They have also given her Cephalexin and a Sulfa drug. Any proceudre we have done is only about 87% effective so I thought antibiotics would be the easiest. Your urologist will go over all the options and outline what is best for your daughter.

ETA: We use Dr Ewalt as well - same as Binky

My daughter had Grade 3, but only on one side, diagnosed at 6 months. Grade 1 on the other, so she wasn't as severe as yours. She really fought us on the antibiotics. Tried flavoring them, putting it in her formula, everything. We eventually gave up after a week. I know that probably sounds awful, but I didn't really want to give her such a strong antibiotic for so long anyway, so it wasn't too hard to give in to her. Instead of giving her the antibiotic every day, we were just extremely careful about the UTI thing for the next couple of years and rushed her to the doctor at the sign of any fever to have her tested... we did that until we got the VCUG that said she had outgrown it and the ultrasound showed no damage to her kidneys. Maybe we were lucky, I don't know. But I'm thankful it turned out the way it did. Good luck to you. I'm sorry you have to go through this. It's stressful.

I sadly have lots of information on this one. My 4-year old daughter has a confirmed Grade 3 reflux on her left side. She was diagnosed when she had a UTI at 8 weeks old. She has been doing VCUGs every year since then and she has been on nightly antibiotics since. Most kids DO outgrow this by school age, so most urologists tend to do the wait and see and antibiotic thing for a few years unless there are still breakthrough UTIs. My daughter has not improved from the Grade 3. We are now considering her surgical options. The ureter re-attachment surgey is about 99% effective...you don't even need to do a follow up VCUG afterwards. However, it is VERY invasive. It requires a several day in-hospital stay. A catheter would be in place for a couple of days after the surgery and recovery is pretty intense. There is also the Deflux which was mentioned by someone else. Essentially, a silicone type material is injected in the ureter tube to strengthen it and make it close normally. It is about 70% effective. It is a out-patient surgery that is typically done laproscopically so the recovery is MUCH easier. You do have to do a follow up VCUG about 3 months afterwards to confirm the success of the surgery. I talked to my pediatrician and she recommended going with the Deflux because of the easier surgery and recovery time. We are still waffling, but are leaning towards the Deflux.

Please be very careful and think long and hard about extended antibiotic use for your child. I was born with kidney disease in my RT kidney and took antibiotics for most of my life for chronic infections, finally had a nephrectomy at age 50. The antibiotics basically ruined my digestive system, I now must take multiple medications/supplements daily to maintain a semi-healthy intestitional tract. I cannot go out into the sun, the antibiotic use proudced a sun allergy that breaks me out in hives. Another result of antibiotic overuse is that I do not produce adequate saliva or adequate stomach acid to digest my food properly so do not absorb the nutrients from my food. This resulted in chronic anemia and IBS. It took many years to find a doctor that recognized the problem and treated me correctly. During those years I became so ill that I was close to death...all from extended antibiotic use. If you choose to go the antibiotic route, please give your child a pharmaceutical quality probiotic every meal, restrict cow dairy intake, restrict simple carbs, restrict sugars, as each of these foods complicates maintaining a healthy digestive system. It would also help to give your child some good digestable fiber daily to maintain the mucous lining of the intestines and help protect her from the damage caused by the antibiotics.

At the age of two my daughter was diagnosed with stage 4 reflux. She was put on antibiotics and rechecked after a year. At age 3, her 2nd VCUG, they found that she had outgrown the reflux, which the doctor said is common. While she was on antibiotics, I mixed a children's probiotic powder in a drink once a day. That helps with preventing tummy troubles and yeast infections while on antibiotics.