Foreign bodies in the urinary bladder.

Objective Todetermine the cause, clinical presentation and the most suitable method of treatment for retrieving foreign bodies from urinary bladder. Patients and Methods This descriptive study was conducted at Department of Nephro-Urology Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Larkana. Patients were divided into two groups on the basis of having known or unknown foreign bodies in urinary bladder. In group-1 the diagnosis of presence of foreign body was confirmed with the help of investigations, whereas in group-2 the foreign bodies were discovered incidentally either during cystoscopy or in the core of vesical calculus while doing intra-corporeal cystolithotripsy procedure. Patients presented with dysuria, frequency, suprapubic pain and hematuria. The foreign bodies with or without stone were approached for treatment via endoscopic or open surgical procedure. Results 34 cases having foreign body in urinary bladder were treated from April, 1998 to October, 2008. Group-I comprised of six (17.64%) patients, whereas group-II consisted of 28(82.3%) cases. The known foreign bodies included bullet (01, 2.94%), piece of metallic urethral dilator (01, 2.94%) and piece of Foleys catheter (04, 11.76%). The unknown foreign bodies were broken piece of balloon of Foleys catheter (13. 38.2%), suture material (10, 29.4%), thermometer (01, 2.94%), gauze piece (02, 5.88%), and IUCD (02, 5.88%). All the foreign bodies were removed by endoscopic approach except two (5.88%), who required open surgery. Conclusion Unusual foreign bodies like bullet, broken piece of metallic urethral dilator and thermometer were seen. Majority were retrieved by endoscopic method.