About the Exam
We welcome the opportunity to provide your child with the best possible imaging care. Our staff will take x-rays of your child’s bladder and urethra. This x-ray examination, called a voiding cystourethrogram or VCUG, allows the radiologist to check for (1) reflux, a condition in which urine flows from the bladder into the ureter and/or kidney and (2) abnormalities of the urethra and the process of voiding (urination). The child’s physician can treat reflux, if it is found to be present.

The VCUG is relatively painless, but does require your child’s cooperation. In fact, the greater the cooperation, the quicker the exam. Parents’ involvement before, during, and after the exam can greatly help.

During the Exam
Your child will be asked to wear an examining gown. The x-ray technologist will take you and your child to the examining room, where your child will lie on his/her back on an x-ray table. With you at your child’s side, a registered nurse will place a catheter, a tiny flexible tube, into your child’s bladder via the urethra. Most children experience little or no discomfort from this procedure.

The x-ray technologist instills a solution into the tube. The solution fills the bladder and allows the bladder to be visible on x-rays. The radiologist captures various images of the bladder and views them on a computer screen. If a second adult is present, he or she may stay with the radiologist at the computer to view the images. Only one parent may stay with the child in the examining room.

Assessing the urethra is an important part of this examination, and to do so, your child will need to urinate during the exam. The x-ray technologist will help your child urinate into towels or a urinal. Depending on the child’s age, this may require additional reassurance from you.

If your child has been scheduled for additional exams, such as intravenous pyelogram (IVP), the nurse returns and prepares your child. If the second exam is an ultrasound, a different technologist may take care of your child.

After the Exam
Once all of the exams are completed, your child can dress and enjoy whatever incentive you may have offered. If the referring physician is the pediatric urologist, you may be asked to deliver the x-rays. If the referring physician is the pediatrician, we will send a report directly to the physician’s office.

As a result of irritation from the catheter, your child may complain of a burning sensation during urination or may discharge some blood. This is normal, and will usually go away within 24 hours.

We encourage you to contact us at any time to discuss your questions and concerns.