Identification of urological anomalies associated with anorectal malformation in southwestern Uganda: Limitations and opportunities

Anorectal malformations (ARMs) may be associated with congenital anomalies affecting other body parts namely vertebral, anorectal, cardiac, tracheoesophageal, renal, and limb (VACTERL) with varying incidences of 7%–60% [1–10]. Genitourinary defects might occur approximately in 50% of all patients with anorectal malformations [11] hence patients should be evaluated from birth to rule out these defects. To identify urological anomalies associated with anorectal malformation in southwestern Uganda. This was a descriptive retrospective cohort study conducted at our regional referral hospital in Southwestern Uganda involving patients who have undergone surgical correction of ARMs between June 2021 and July 2023. The overall prevalence of renal anomalies in our study patient population was 18.05%. Of those with ARM-associated renal anomalies, Specific anomalies included; renal agenesis (6.8%), hydronephrosis, (4.5%), duplex collecting system (3.8%), crossed fused kidney (1.5%), and ectopic kidney (0.75%). () We found that the prevalence of ARM-associated renal anomalies was 18.05%, and the commonest anomaly was unilateral agenesis (6.8%) similar to other studies [12]. Previous data have shown renal anomalies are common anomalies in ARM [13]. While the exact values vary across studies, they all concluded that the rate of associated anomalies is extremely high in ARMs and warrants a thorough preoperative investigation once the ARMs are detected. This finding therefore underscores the importance of thorough evaluation and a multidisciplinary approach of care and follow-up system for ARM management including urologists even when the children are asymptomatic now. The main limitation of our study was missing information on patients' charts, we were not able to get the diagnosis since most patients didn't have their discharge forms at the time of evaluation. ARM associated with renal anomalies may remain undiagnosed and asymptomatic. Those identified as asymptomatic need to be followed in a multidisciplinary fashion including pediatric urologists.