Teaching intermittent self-catheterization to young children with myelodysplasia.

A new technique is described which enables children with neurogenic bladder secondary to myelodysplasia to learn self-catheterization prior to their school years. Inexpensive dolls, complete with male or female genitalia, and a specially designed mirror to magnify the female children's genitalia, were used with four children (three girls, one boy) with mental ages of five years. Each child successfully demonstrated self-catheterization within two days, and gradual progress toward complete independence has been promoted.