Urethral duplication: a rare cause of recurrent urinary infection

ABSTRACT

Urethral duplication is quite a rare congenital anomaly with ill-defined aetiology. Patients often present with penile deformity, recurrent urinary infections, urinary incontinence, serosal discharge from the accessory urethra, and difficulty in urinating. Urethral duplication is most commonly grouped according to the Efmann classification. It has 3 main types as Type I, II, and III. There is no consensus on its therapy. There are non-surgical solutions, including follow-up without therapy, as well as many surgical options, including urethral reconstruction. Anatomical urethra and the external sphincter should absolutely be delineated when a surgery is contemplated. We herein report the case of a two-year-old male patient referred to our clinic with recurrent urinary infection, bilateral hydronephrosis and difficulty in urinating who was diagnosed with urethral duplication. We discuss our findings with review of the relevant literature