Melon-Sized, 2-Pound Stone Successfully Removed From 17-Year-Old Orphan's Urinary Bladder

A group of doctors in India has successfully managed to remove a stone weighing roughly 2.2 pounds from the bladder of a 17-year-old teen, who suffers from a rare condition called Exstrophy-Epispadias Complex (EEC).

The complex surgery was done in the city of Mumbai on June 30, media outlet Hindustan Times reported.

The boy was born with a developmental abnormality that left his bladder unable to store urine or function normally, causing urine leakage. EEC is reportedly found in 1 in 100,000 live births.

The teenager was operated on by Dr. Rajiv Redkar, who had treated him earlier. Fifteen years ago, the boy had approached the doctor with the condition, and Dr. Redkar had performed a bladder augmentation, a surgical procedure, to increase the size of the bladder. He had also undergone Mitrofanoff Procedure, which creates a new tube on a child’s belly through which he can urinate by using a catheter.

"The tube was made from the appendix, and it connected the bladder to a small hole created in the belly button," Dr. Redkar, who currently works as a consultant pediatric surgeon in Mumbai, told the news outlet.

However, the boy who is an orphan did not follow up on the treatment. He recently got back in touch with the doctor, after developing severe discomfort, pain and inability to control urination.

Further tests proved the teen's bladder contained a large calcium oxalate stone, which was about the size of a melon, News Logic reported. The medical team then reconstructed his augmented urinary bladder, a challenging procedure.

"He has responded to the surgery extremely well. His kidneys are well protected and functioning fine. Such a case needs long-term management of the condition with regular follows and check-ups," Dr. Redkar told Hindustan Times.

The surgery was done free of cost as the boy, who was with a local guardian, had no money. According to the doctors, if left untreated, the condition could have proved fatal.

Last month, doctors in India performed a rare surgery to remove an extra leg of a 1-year-old boy born with a birth defect called tripod deformity. In such cases, an additional rudimentary leg starts to form on the body from the back beside the two normal legs. In the 1-year-old unidentified boy's case, the third leg was neurologically intact, even though the limb's power was reduced. The surgery was successful, and the child was recovering.