What do pediatric surgeons think about sexual issues in dealing with patients with anorectal malformations? The ARM-Net consortium members' opinion.

PURPOSE: Since pediatric surgeons aim to follow their patients with anorectal malformations (ARM) into adulthood the aim of this study was to investigate how pediatric surgeons deal with sexual issues related to ARM. METHODS: In 2018, a questionnaire was developed by the working group "Follow-up and sexuality" of the ARM-Net consortium and sent to all consortium-linked pediatric surgeons from 31 European pediatric surgical centers. Obtained data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Twenty-eight of 37 pediatric surgeons (18 males/10 females) answered the questionnaire. The majority of pediatric surgeons (82%) think they should talk about sexual issues with their patient. More than 50% of pediatric surgeons do not feel at all or only moderately confident discussing the topic of sexuality. Most pediatric surgeons require more support (96%) and wish to be trained in sexuality and sexual issues (78%) to feel confident towards their ARM-patients/parents. For optimal care, sexual issues with ARM-patients should be managed by a multidisciplinary team. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric surgeons feel that sexuality is an important issue for their ARM-patients, which they are primarily responsible of but should be managed in concert with a multidisciplinary team. A training in sexuality is wished to feel more confident about this specific issue.

Imaging assessment of renal injuries in children and adolescents: CT or ultrasound?

BACKGROUND: Since the introduction of the ALARA ("as low as reasonably achievable") concept, ultrasound (US) has been progressively advocated for paediatric diagnostic imaging. This study aimed to analyse the role and accuracy of US in paediatric renal trauma. METHODS: From 1999 to 2009, the tertiary-care-hospital database was retrospectively evaluated for renal trauma with regards to aetiology, type of injury, diagnostics, management and outcome. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients (29 males, 18 females; median age=14years, range 1-17 years) were identified. US was initially applied in 45 patients with correct results in 86.6%. Computed tomography (CT) was performed in 16 patients in the acute trauma setting - complementary to US in 14 cases, with a diagnostic accuracy of 93%. Most renal injuries were grade I° (n=30), followed by grade III° (n=8), IV° (n=5), and II°/V° (n=2 each). All patients were initially managed conservatively and followed by US. Clinical deterioration necessitated surgery in four patients (2 nephrectomies, 1 partial nephrectomy, 1 urinoma drainage). The outcome was generally favourable with a renal preservation rate of 95%. CONCLUSION: With respect to the ALARA principle, US can be safely and reliably applied as the first-line diagnostic imaging technique and for follow-up for suspected traumatic paediatric renal injuries.