VCUG Test

My daughter JUST had this test done again today...her third time! She is 6 and had her first one at 5. So I think it may be a little more difficult for your daughter since she is so young. As my Dr explained though, it is unusual for kids under 4 to get UTI's so it may be a good thing to get the test done to make sure there is no reflux...and if there is to get it dealt with before it causes kidney damage. The hardest part for the child is to get the catheter inserted. The first time my daughter went through it she was yelling for them to take it out. The hardest part for her today was to not pee as her bladder filled up with the saline. I would definately do the test and reward her bigtime afterwards. I am sure she is not going to like it being done, but think about her future health. Good luck!

My daughter had this test performed just before she turned two years old. We weren't sure whether to do it or not but the ultrasound showed some fluid build-up in the kidneys. We knew we had to check it out b/c of reflux.
It was awful and very traumatic for both of us. Not only is it uncomfortable but when they strapped her in and lowered the x-ray machine down, my daughter was hysterical. She cried the whole time. When it was over I had to hold her for twenty minutes. Thankfully everything was okay in the end. I don't regret my choice to proceed with the test. I felt we couldn't take a chance and risk damage to her kidneys. Just be calm, strong and reassuring to your daughter throughout the test. Mine looked for my reaction. Good luck to you and hope all turns out for the best!

Hi there I.:)
My 4 1/2 year old daughter just had a VCUG done two weeks ago because she had a UTI that went untreated by the doctors. The reason for this test is to make sure that there is not any reflux of urine back into the kidneys which can be causing the infections. My daughter had a kidney infection or a UTI for over a month and a half before she was properly treated. We spent 4 days in the hospital with her because of this. To this day my daughter is still testing positive for UTI's because the bacteria is still in her body. The doctors are not sure what kind of bacteria it is or how to treat it because none of the medicine seems to get rid of it. I will say that my daughter was traumatized by the VCUG, but I think it was because the nurse that was doing the inserting did not take her time with it. I am glad that we had the test done to rule out reflux because if she had it we would have to continue to treat her for it. There are procedures that can be done if a child has reflux but we do not have to go through that. I had asked the same question about the VCUG test and got no response from here but I am glad that I saw your post. Seeing that your daughter is younger, I don't think it will be so bad to have the test done. My daughter is going to remember this for the rest of her life and she is very picky about who can touch her down there. When the doctors have to check her she has a fit and I really don't blame her! But I do recommend the test be done just to make sure there is no future problems with your daughters kidneys. If you have any more questions please let me know.
Good luck!
J.

My daughter is 7 and had a UTI three times in a row. Urologist suggested a VCUG. I postponed. Then I decided to do it for peace of mind. The test was not as bad as I expected. She cried for a few seconds with the insertion of the catether. After that all went well.She did have burning after she peed for a day or so.She was not traumatized like I expected. She just told me she hopes she never has to take that test again. We got good news. She did not have reflux. If anyone has to do it some of the horror stories might scare you. They scared me and that is why I put it off. Chose a hospital that is good with children. That helps because they can handle kids. Good Luck to all who need the VCUG.

One of our twin daughters had a UTI last year (she was 11 months at the time). She needed to have a VCUG as well as an ultrasound of her kidney to make sure the UTI wasn't due to an internal problem. The test seemed relatively painless. The worst part is keeping them still and content during the test. It takes a bit of time for the kidneys to fill with liquid and then for them to empty and take the pictures. Keeping her entertained was the worst part, in my opinion. My advice is make sure you're going somewhere where they do a lot of these procedures on young children (I ended up at one of the Children's Memorial locations in the suburbs and it was a great experience). Good luck!

My daughter had 3 UTI's in a row so they decided to do a VCUG. We went to children's for it. They inserted the tube in the wrong hole. Needless to say, it was a bad experience. I'm told that because they are so young, and their anatomy is still so little, it's really hard to tell one whole from the other. Seemed ridiculous to me seeing as though we were at a Children's hospital but that's what happened. I did like the Doctor we saw though. Dr. Chaviano and Dawn was the nurse practitioner that we've seen. We decided not to put her through that again and to put her on an antibiotic for short term. The way they explained it to us was that it was the same treatment if she'd had reflux of the kidneys or not. She hasn't had one since. They did have a dvd player for her which made it a little more bearable but it wasn't fun. She was just over 2.