MIBEC

Children's Wisconsin offers a high level of expertise for bladder exstrophy and epispadias. We are a member of nationally-recognized MIBEC (Multi Institutional Bladder Exstrophy Consortium) along with Boston Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Our goal is to help improve your child's bladder health, bladder control and achieve the best possible quality of life.

Bladder exstrophy is a rare condition requiring complex surgical intervention and follow up care. The MIBEC consortium brings together the country's top pediatric urologists from Children's Wisconsin, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Boston Children's Hospital. The goal of this multi-center team is to improve surgical techniques to restore the cosmetic appearance and function of the urinary and reproductive tract, teach new physicians and colleagues world-wide, and report on improved patient outcomes and quality of life.

Team members include:

Children's Wisconsin

• John Kryger, MD
• Travis Groth, MD
• Elizabeth Roth, MD
• Coleen Rosen, DNP

Boston Children's Hospital

• Joseph Borer, MD
• Lauren Cullen, MSN

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

• Douglas Canning, MD
• Aseem Shukla, MD
• Dana Weiss, MD
• Brynne Bonitatibus, MSN, CPNP

A surgical team from each of these three hospitals takes turns visiting each other's institution to participate in every bladder exstrophy surgery performed. The visiting surgeons collectively gives surgical guidance to the home hospital team during the procedure and then review the outcomes after the case for shared learning.

The program is in its 5th year and already the MIBEC team has completed over 100 exstrophy-related procedures, thereby multiplying many fold the clinical experience each center would have had on its own. In addition to improving surgical outcomes, we have been focused on reducing our length of stay for this complex surgery. The shortened discharge time leads to increased patient and family satisfaction and a significant decrease in hospital costs. (Please see our publications below and a link to a video regarding our program.)

• Short-term outcomes of the multi-institutional bladder exstrophy consortium: Successes and complications in the first two years of collaboration
  Borer JG, Vasquez E, Canning DA, Kryger JV, Bellows A, Weiss D, Groth T, Shukla A, Kurtz MP, Mitchell ME
• Postoperative Immobilization and Pain Management After Repair of Bladder Exstrophy
  Roth E, Goetz J, Kryger J, Groth T.
• Clinical pathway for early discharge after complete primary repair of exstrophy and epispadias by using a spica cast
  Sack BS, Kryger JV, Mitchell ME, Durkee CT, Lyon R, Groth TW
• An initial report of a novel multi-institutional bladder exstrophy consortium: a collaboration focused on primary surgery and subsequent care 
  Borer JG1, Vasquez E2, Canning DA3, Kryger JV4, Mitchell ME4