Teenager receives ‘bladder pacemaker’ in UK first at Evelina Hospital

A 17-year-old has become the first teenager to receive a “bladder pacemaker” as part of a new service at Evelina London Children’s Hospital.

In a UK first, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, in Westminster Bridge Road, has launched a bladder neuromodulation service for children and young people. 

Jenny Allan, of Thanet, Kent, was the first teenager to undergo the procedure.

Ms Allan has a rare condition which means she is unable to pass urine and has to “self-catheterise” every few hours to empty her bladder.

She said the specialist treatment has given her a “new freedom” to pursue her dream job as an ecologist.

She said: “I’m a very outdoorsy person and will be studying ecology at university in September, and hope to get a job in that field. 

“If I’m lucky I could end up trekking through a rainforest or counting penguins in the Antarctic! 

“This operation has meant that I won’t need to self-catheterise six times a day. Doing so is quite difficult even on a day hike in the Kent Downs where there aren’t toilet facilities every few hours, let alone in the middle of a rainforest or up a mountain!”

The service at Evelina Children’s Hospital offers specialist procedures for children and young people with rare bladder conditions, who haven’t responded to standard treatment.

An electronic stimulator device – similar to a pacemaker – has been surgically implanted into the patient’s lower back.

Electrode wires run from the device to connect to the nerves from the base of the spine. 

Once the device is switched on, it sends electrical impulses through the wire to the nerves, to change the nerve messages going to the bladder. 

These changes prevent incorrect or unwanted nerve messages in the bladder which cause urinary incontinence or a young person not being able to empty their bladder without a catheter.

Arash Taghizadeh, consultant paediatric urologist and lead for the bladder neuromodulation service at Evelina London, said: “Bladder problems in children are common, and the majority can be simply and effectively treated to improve symptoms. 

“But, there is a small minority of children and young people who do not respond to standard treatments. 

“Bladder neuromodulation is a specialist procedure that has been available to adults for more than 20 years. It’s great that we’re able to offer it to children and young people to improve their symptoms, giving them greater independence over their daily lives.”

Evelina London is the largest centre in the UK performing standard and complex bladder investigations, known as urodynamics.

The specialist children’s hospital also has wider expertise in using nerve stimulator devices in children, including running the oldest and largest paediatric deep brain stimulation service in the world.

The new service has been funded by Evelina London Children’s Charity.

Barbara Kasumu, executive director of Evelina London Children’s Charity, said: “We are so proud to have funded the new bladder neuromodulation service which for the first time in the UK will help offer children and young people, like Jenny, a new sense of freedom.”

Pictured top: Jenny Allan and her dog Amber (Picture: Jenny Allan)