In search for a cure for Hypospadias: From Lucknow to Navi Mumbai, India

Hypospadias remains the most common urological anomaly in boys and more than 1 lakh kids are born in India every year with Hypospadias. Majority of these are mild variety like glanular, coronal, distal penile or midpenile hypospadias. Less than 15% of all hypospadias are moderate to severe variety of hypospadias like proximal penile, penoscrotal or scrotal hypospadias. While very mild hypospadias like glanular or coronal without chordee may be left alone without surgery, all other types of hypospadias or those with chordee require hypospadias correction treatment.

There are more than 100 different types of hypospadias surgery techniques described in medical literature attesting to the fact that none of the techniques are perfect or suitable for all types of hypospadias. The hypospadias specialist surgeon needs to be well acquainted with anatomy and various techniques to decide the type of surgery needed in a particular hypospadias case. Subtle variations in anatomy decide the type of technique needed. Hence the decision for each hypospadias is very individualized.

The common techniques in use for primary hypospadias are TIP urethroplasty (Snodgrass repair), Mathieu repair, Onlay Island flap urethroplasty, Prepucial tube and staged Bracka’s urethroplasty. Each technique of hypospadias surgery has its own advantages and disadvantages and case selection becomes very important.

Case: Boy from Lucknow

Master A.C. was born with proximal penile hypospadias in Lucknow. He was advised surgery after one year of age by the doctors in Lucknow. They consulted various surgeons in Lucknow and Delhi but were not satisfied by the approach. Finally, the boy’s uncle who was a scientist in CSIR sent an email to Hypospadias Foundation with all records and pictures asking for an opinion. We advised a clinical examination and a single stage surgery. The family flew to Mumbai and saw us in MITR Hospital, Kharghar where Hypospadias Foundation is located. The penis size for Master A.C. was very small with a stretched penile length of 2 cm and Glans diameter of 11mm. We advised two injections of Testosterone (male hormone) to induce growth of penis at one month interval. After one month of second injection, the glans size increased to 15.5 mm and penis length to 29mm. At this time, we planned a hypospadias correction surgery. A.C. was admitted the morning of surgery and a single stage urethroplasty was done using Onlay Island Flap technique for which Dr Singal is very renowned. The surgery took 90 minutes and the boy was discharged the next morning after hypospadias surgery. The dressing was removed after 5 days and catheter was removed after 10 days. A.C. passed urine well and at one month follow-up was passing urine in a good stream without any issues. The penis has healed very well with an excellent cosmetic result. The parents were overjoyed and sent an email of thanks after one month from Lucknow. Further follow-ups will be via email and phone calls. Patients from across the globe follow-up with us using electronic medium such as email, whats app and skype.

Dr Singal with Family from Lucknow

Testosterone (hormone) injection before Hypospadias surgery

In some cases of hypospadias the penile size may be small and the head of penis (glans) may be very tiny. In such cases it is difficult to repair the hypospadias adequately. We advise testosterone injections in dose of 25mg intramuscular injections two months and one month before surgery. The testosterone injections help in two ways: Increasing the size of penis and glans; secondly the blood supply (vascularity) of the foreskin increases which helps in making a good flap in severe hypospadias. Two doses of testosterone injections do not have any short term or long term side effects on body growth etc. Part of the effect of testosterone on penile growth is reversible but part increase in size of penis is permanent. For us at Hypospadias foundation, we give Testosterone injections for babies where the penis size is less than 25mm or the glans diameter is less than 13-14mm.

Onlay Island flap urethroplasty

Onlay island flap urethroplasty is a type of hypospadias repair surgery where a flap is made from foreskin on the top of penis (dorsal prepuce) and brought on underside of penis. This flap is based on a robust blood supply from dartos tissue of the foreskin (see the video below). Onlay island flap urethroplasty is reserved for severe hypospadias or where the TIP repair is not suitable and the chordee is not very severe. In hands of expert hypospadias surgeons, Onlay Island flap urethroplasty offers best results in repair of severe hypospadias. Dr A.K.Singal is one of the best hypospadias surgeon specialists in India for such surgeries. Dr Singal has been invited at various national and international conferences to showcase his surgical technique (see video below). Every year more than 200 children and adults with primary or failed hypospadias are operated under his team’s care in Navi Mumbai, India.

If your child has a hypospadias and you wish to get in touch with Dr Singal for treatment, you can fill up the contact form below or you can see him at one of his hypospadias clinics in Navi Mumbai or Mumbai. You can also call up Dr Rajkumar, Co-ordinator for Hypospadias Foundation at +91-9821261448 between 9am-6pm to discuss any queries.

Dr Singal’s clinics and Timings

Contact form for Dr Singal & Hypospadias Foundation

See Video of Proximal penile hypospadias repair using Onlay Island flap technique- by Dr A.K.Singal

See Scrotal Hypospadias repair using Onlay Island flap urethroplasty- by Dr A.K.Singal

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    Twins from Greece undergo successful surgery for severe hypospadias in Mumbai, India

    Across the borders for Hypospadias

    Hypospadias is one of the most common congenital anomalies affecting more than 4,00,000 newborn babies every year across the globe. The problem is not restricted to any particular country or race. Every year, our team at Hypospadias Foundation lead by Dr A.K. Singal manages kids with hypospadias from across India and also from other countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Iraq, Bangladesh, USA and recently Greece.

    Well, the kids from Greece were a whole different story. Though originally from Greece, their father Ioannis Padadatos was employed with a company in Delhi. Master Konstantinos and Spyridon Papadatos, twin babies were born in Delhi to Maria and Ioannis were noted to have hypospadias at birth. The hypospadias was relatively severe in both the children and had associated chordee. The urethral opening was near the scrotum (testis) called Penoscrotal hypospadias. Parents were very hassled as they had never heard of the condition before and now both their newborn babies had severe variety of hyposapdias. Dissatisfied with the information given by pediatricians, pediatric surgeons and urologists in Delhi, they took up to internet for more information. They contacted Dr A.K.Singal, Pediatric Urologist & renowned Hypospadias surgeon who regularly writes articles at www.hypospadiasfoundation.com . Though they had visited the multiple doctors in delhi, what reassured them was the blogs written by dr A.K.Singal about his experience with children who had hypospadias.

    After exchange of a few emails, Maria and Ioannis travelled all the way to Mumbai when the babies were 6 months old, in Nov 2013 to consult Dr A.K.Singal at Fortis Hospital in Vashi. Since the right age of surgery for hypospadias is 6 – 15 months, the parents elected to get the surgery done as soon as possible. After the blood tests, the parents again came to Mumbai in December to get the surgery done for both the kids. Master Spyridon underwent surgery on a Monday while Konstantinos underwent surgery on Tuesday. Though both had severe hypospadias and the parents were counseled that a two staged correction may be needed, the whole hypospadias surgical correction was performed in one stage using an Onlay Island Flap urethroplasty of which Dr Singal is an expert. The correction of penile curvature (chordee correction) and formation of new urinary tube (urethroplasty) were all performed in one stage.

    After one more day post-surgery in Mumbai, the family travelled back to Delhi and kept in regular touch with Dr Singal via email. Dr Singal visited them one week later in Fortis Hospital in Delhi while attending a conference. Finally the catheter (urinary pipe) was removed after ten days of surgery and babies passed urine in good thick stream signifying a successful outcome in one stage. Now almost nine months after hypospadias surgery, both the babies are doing extremely well.

    The family has now shifted to Doha, Qatar but they have taken a lot of India with them and most of all fond memories. We at Hypospadias Foundation are very happy to see the kids grow well and pass urine from a normal opening.

    Dr Singal adds “With the advances in instruments and sutures plus better surgical techniques, we are able to do single stage correction for even severe hypospadias in most cases. Rarely we need second surgery and that too if there are complications in the first hypospadias surgery. I am happy that Maria and Ioannis trusted us for management of their children for hypospadias. They came with full faith and trust and that made my job so much easier. I will always remember their family and their beautiful kids. It was indeed a joy meeting them and knowing them. Sometimes I wonder as a hypospadias surgeon what kind of leap of faith the parents must take to travel in an unknown country to an unknown doctor and trust him/ her with the lives of their little ones. I truly appreciate their courage and faith.”

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      Preoperative instructions for children undergoing hypospadias repair surgery

      Hypospadias is often diagnosed at birth or in the first few weeks when a pediatrician does a general examination. It may be a time of great anxiety for the parents when they learn that their child has a urological abnormality which may need surgery. The word surgery may be itself be scary and on top of that surgery on a child and that too on penis. That being said, results of hypospadias repair procedure are very good now, mostly with a smooth pre surgery and post surgery course.

      Parents often wonder about what needs to be done before the hypospadias surgery in terms of preparation. Hence, we have tried to put some of this information in this blog which is more general in nature as the specific information can be only shared by the actual hypospadias expert surgeon managing the child.

      Before the surgery, besides the usual tests for fitness to make sure that the blood parameters are fine, we always ask for thorough examination to make sure that the child is not having any other concurrent illness such as respiratory, skin or intestinal infection. If the examination and the tests are normal, then we sit with the family and fix up a date for surgery. If the date is far out, we call for another review one week before surgery to ascertain that everything is ready for surgery. Sometimes the parents and families are travelling to us from a long distance away from within India or other countries, then we try to conduct a phone call one week before the hypospadias repair. In our pediatric urologist services, we try to keep hypospadias operation as the first case every day. This ensures that the staff is in the best of their spirits and best of their energy.

      1. Empty stomach: The child needs to be empty stomach for atleast 4 hours for breast milk and 6 hours for solid foods/ breads on the day of surgery before surgery. This is a mandatory safety precaution to prevent vomiting during anesthesia. Keeping a 6 months or a one year old child hungry for 4 hours is not an easy task. Infact some of the parents are more worried about keeping a young child hungry than the actual surgery but this is something which is non-negotiable. Often we give the child light sedative syrup 1-2 hours before surgery to help the baby sleep.
      2. Bathing: We ask the parents to give the child a bath on the morning of hypospadias operation as it will be difficult to give a formal head to toe bath for next 5-7 days after..321 surgery.
      3. Potty: Some of the children may be a little constipated, we advise parents to give a glycerine suppository or a laxative the night before so that the child has an empty bowel. Post hypospadias surgery, local pain often leads to a temporary constipation.
      4. Admission: In a hospital with daycare facility, we admit the child for hypospadias operation at 6:30am -7am. If the parents live farther away from the hospital or the hospital doesn’t have a daycare facility, we like to admit the children the night before surgery. At Hypospadias foundation in Navi Mumbai, India we mostly admit the children in the morning of the surgery itself unless the parents live more than 50km away or do not have a means of traveling early in morning.
      5. Clothes: Children are changed into hospital clothes appropriate for their age on the morning of surgery. Make sure that the iv canula is inserted after changing of clothes.
      6. Sedation: If the child is irritable while staying hungry we either advise a pacifier or a light sedative syrup till the time of anesthesia.
      7. Induction: Crying child is not a good sight just before hypospadias surgery for the parents or the hypospadias doctor. If the child has an iv line, anesthesia team often administers a small dose of premedication to help sedate the child before shifting to operation theatre.
      8. Consent: Before hypospadias surgery is started, family has to fill up an anesthesia and a surgery consent form which is quite detailed in general. Sometimes the parents get alarmed on seeing the form. But please feel free to ask us about any doubts which you have. We always have the best of intentions and efforts to get your baby back home safely after hypospadias surgery.

      We must understand that getting the child with hypospadias fully cured is a team effort and it needs devotion and patience from both the family as well the surgical team. We at Hypospadias Foundation are committed towards making the whole hypospadias treatment experience seamless, less bothersome, more baby friendly and easy for the families. This also translates into better results sheerly stemming from deep interest in wellbeing of babies with hypospadias.

      Please contact us if you have any questions for us by submitting your query here. Dr Singal and his team will be more than happy to help.

      Dr A.K.Singal is a renowned and one of the best Pediatric urologist’s in Indian subcontinent. He is known for excellent results and devotion to managing children and adults with hypospadias and Disorders of sex development. He runs his urology and hypospadias clinics in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai area of western India. Dr Singal is outspoken advocate of achieving best results for hypospadias both clinically and psychosocially.

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