Bladder washout and stone formation in paediatric enterocystoplasty

Objective: To review the incidence of stone formation in our patients with enterocystoplasty to determine the effect of regular bladder washout. Methods: From 1988 to 1995, a prospective cohort of 30 children underwent enteroplasty with continent diversion. Over the same period, a consecutive group of 30 children had an augmentation alone. All were instructed to wash out their bladder on a weekly basis with sterile water. The frequency of the washoutsincreased if there were problems with increasing mucus production. Their incidence of stone formation has been compared to a similar group of 30 children performing clean intermittent self catheterisation (CISC) on their native bladders. Results: Five (17%) children with continent diversions formed bladder stones(mean time to formation 35 months, range 13–59 months) were compared with 2 (7%) of children with augmentation. No child performing CISC alone formed stones. Conclusions: A regime of regular bladder washoutin children with enterocystoplasty did not significantly reduce the incidence of stone formation when compared to previously published data.