Pediatric urologic emergencies and urgencies.

The more common urologic problems seen in infancy and childhood that require urgent or emergent pediatric urologic referral are discussed, including a brief description of the usual presenting signs or symptoms, differential diagnoses, proper diagnostic work-up recommended before or at the time of referral, and the usual therapeutic course of management after evaluation by the urologist. These conditions include the acutely swollen scrotum, scrotal masses, penile swelling and erythema, exstrophy, hematuria, urinary retention, abdominal masses, and various genital abnormalities including interlabial masses, hypospadias with any degree of cryptorchidism, and ambiguous genitalia. This article is designed to provide the primary care practitioner with a focused review and a useful resource for managing children who have genitourinary abnormalities in the hospital or clinic setting.