Welcome to the Division of Urology
Welcome to the Division of Urology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We are a world leader in minimally invasive surgery and kidney stone treatment, and nationally known for our reconstructive surgery program and our DOVE Center for bladder and voiding problems. Our patients come from across the country and around the world to be treated for conditions they were born with or later developed. Each year, our team is involved in 18,000 outpatient visits and 2,200 surgeries.
Conditions we treat
Help for bladder, voiding problems
Minimally invasive surgery
Reconstructive surgery
Research
Make an appointment
Conditions we treat
We treat all problems in the internal and external genital systems of boys and girls. We care for children with anomalies of the external genitalia such as hydroceles (swellings in the scrotum), undescended testes and other scrotal problems in boys; we treat disorders of sexual differentiation and are specialists in pediatric gynecology. We also care for children with adrenal, kidney, ureter, bladder and urethral problems and cancers that occur within the urogenital tract.
Help for bladder, voiding problems
Our DOVE (Dysfunctional Outpatient Voiding and Elimination) Center provides expert care to boys and girls with functional bladder emptying and storage disorders, many of whom seek our attention after they develop urinary tract infection or incontinence. We are the only pediatric urology program in the nation with a full-time and a part-time psychologist dedicated to helping children with day- and night-time wetting. We also care for children with neurologic diseases such as spina bifida that affect the bladder and result in poor bladder emptying or incontinence.
Minimally invasive surgery
Our minimally invasive surgical program is a world leader. For certain conditions, this program offers surgery performed through tiny incisions the size of a grain of rice or procedures that are completely endoscopic with no incisions at all. We have an internationally recognized laparoscopic and robotics program that provides minimally invasive surgical reconstruction. (See photo and description at top right of page.) Our kidney stone center is one of the busiest programs of its kind in the world.
Reconstructive surgery
Urology belongs to the Hospital's Surgery division. We are well known for our major reconstructive surgical program,in which bladder and cloacal exstrophy (a birth defect in boys and girls), and hypospadias (a urethral defect in boys) are repaired. We also focus on children born with a blockage in the urinary system known as obstructive uropathy, and we specialize in the care of children with vesicoureteral reflux, a condition in which some urine may back up into the kidney, causing kidney damage.
Research
Scientific research is an integral part of our program; our discoveries in the laboratory are translated into new therapies. At the same time, our clinical research enables us to fine tune the care of children with urologic abnormalities. Current areas of research include the care of bladders injured from in utero obstruction, vesicoureteral reflux, voiding dysfunction, minimally invasive surgery, kidney stone disease, and fertility outcomes in children with undescended testis.
Make an appointment
Our friendly and efficient office staff will help you find what you need and provide outpatient appointments at our main campus in Philadelphia as well as our Pennsylvania satellites in King of Prussia, Exton and Chalfont; and at our New Jersey satellites in Voorhees, Mays Landing, and in Princeton. Contact us at 215-590-2754 to make an appointment at any of our locations.
We look forward to working with you and your child.
Douglas A. Canning, M.D.
Chief, Division of Urology
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Professor of Urology in Surgery,
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Contact Us
- 215-590-2754
Related Specialties and Services
