Dr. Vivek M. Rege
Pediatric Surgeon & Pediatric Urologist
B J Wadia Hospital For Children, Hurkisondas Hospital,
Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai

In a small child, the daily bath is always given by the parent. It is thus common for the parent to notice a mass in the abdomen while scrubbing or drying the child. The child may have no symptoms and is unaware of the mass. There may be no pain, redness, discomfort, nor any history of accidental trauma. There may not be any vomiting, abdominal distension, or any major illness in the recent past. The mass is the only sign of something not normal in this child and this being so the common tendency is to ignore the mass hoping it will go away by itself, or take some medicine from the local doctor and forget about the mass. However, this is a very wrong and dangerous approach to take and can be crucial to the ultimate result in that child.