Dr Singal with Dr Long & Dr Zaontz

Dr Singal presented the following lectures and papers in the World Congress:

• Buccal inlay graft for failed hypospadias- Dr Singal showed technique of buccal (oral) mucosa graft inlay surgery and its results in failed hypospadias cases.
• Considerations in adult hypospadias repairs- Adult hypospadias are difficult to manage especially if the surgery done in childhood has failed. Dr Singal showed innovative surgery techniques for such adult hypospadias cases for best outcomes.
• Reimagined Byar’s flaps for staged hypospadias repairs- For hypospadias with severe chordee, it is important that the penile curvature gets fully corrected in first stage and then second stage surgery is done for bringing the urethra to the tip of penis. In expert hands the results of two stage surgery for hypospadias with severe chordee is very good. Dr Singal showed finer nuances of surgery to achieve best results to the audience.
• Parental Awareness survey for families with hypospadias: Families of children or adults with hypospadias are often not fully aware of the extent of disease and what it means in the long run. Dr Singal and his team conducted a study of 150 families to understand about their concerns about hypospadias and their knowledge level about the disease/ surgery.

Overall the three-day conference resulted in great mutual exchange of ideas and also helped younger generation of surgeons learn from eminent faculty from all over the world.

Besides 100,000 kids born in India every year with hypospadias, there are an estimated 5-10 lakh adults living with either unoperated hypospadias or failed hypospadias having complications of Hypospadias surgery. These can be minor issues such as urethral fistula, chordee or suboptimal cosmetic results but a significant number may have major issues such as completely failed hypospadias, urethral diverticulum, hairy urethra, urethra stricture etc. Unable to come to terms with penile deformity, they do not get any hope or assurances from adult urologists or plastic surgeons as this may not be the area of primary interest or dedication for them.

Mr Rajveer Singh, 30 years old man, had a midpenile hypospadias with chordee and was operated by a plastic surgeon in Hissar Haryana 2 years back. After surgery, there was a breakdown of hypospadias repair and he was still passing urine from underside of penis. He was still having a downward curvature of penis (chordee) even after this surgery. Also he had seen hair growing out of urinary opening over last few months. He was very worried as he wanted to get married, hence he wrote to us asking for help. We wrote back asking for detailed pictures on email which would help us in understanding his clinical condition and hypospadias deformity. Finally, we called him to see us at Hypospadias Foundation in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai. He took a flight from Delhi to Mumbai and landed up in my Hypospadias clinic on a Monday evening. On examination, he had a urinary opening much below the head of penis in midpenile region and also a couple of holes (urethral fistula) from where he was leaking urine. More importantly his penis still looked bent due to uncorrected chordee. Lastly the cosmetic outcome was really bad with tags of skin here and there and we could see hair coming out of his urethra due to previous failed improper hypospadias surgery. This results when an undertrained hypospadias surgeon uses hairy penile skin for urethral reconstruction. We counselled Rajveer regarding the surgical plan the first step of which would be excision of all unhealthy skin tissue on underside of penis, chordee correction (straightening of penis) and then decide for the type of hypospadias repair in operation theatre. This would be either a single stage repair using a local flap from hairless penile skin or a staged repair using a buccal mucosa graft. In staged buccal mucosa graft – we first excise all unhealthy tissue and scars of failed hypospadias repair, then take a thin lining from inside of lower lip or cheek and then place it as a graft on underside of penis. Once this graft gains local blood supply from penis tissue, we roll it into a urethral tube typically after 6 months of first stage. We always keep buccal graft as the last option in failed hypospadias as that essentially means multiple surgeries. Hence, we attempt to do a single stage flap repair whenever feasible even in failed hypospadias and hence we shared this intent with Rajveer.

Rajveer was taken up for surgery the next day under spinal anesthesia and first a cystoscopy was done. It showed normal urethra beyond midpenile region and unhealthy scarred hairy urethra with fistulae in the distal penile region. We excised all the unhealthy tissues and then checked for chordee. There was still 30 degrees bend in penis which needed correction by a 12 O’clock non-absorbable stitch on the top side of penis. On rechecking with artificial erection, there was no chordee now. After chordee repair was satisfactory, we analysed the penile skin on the right side of penis. We could see an island of hairless skin which was possibly remnant of foreskin (prepuce). We designed a long flap from this with very good blood supply from the underlying dartos tissue. This flap was used in an onlay fashion to repair hypospadias in a single stage. Finally head of the penis (glans) was also repaired and a catheter was placed to drain urine till the whole repair healed. Rajveer went back to his home town in Haryana after 3 days of surgery and then we arranged for one of my surgeon colleagues in Hissar (Dr Vivek Gupta) to help with post hypospadias surgery care. The catheter was removed on day 14 since it was a major hypospadias reconstruction. Rajveer passed urine well and but the full healing of the penis took about 4 weeks. The final cosmetic result was excellent when he sent the pictures via email. He visited us recently almost 3 months after surgery, the penis looked well healed and he is passing urine well from the tip in a good stream. His erections are straight and he is now looking forward to get married. The only question is whether he will invite me for his wedding or not and if he invites, how will he introduce me.

When such complex failed cases do well after hypospadias treatment at Hypospadias foundation, it makes us very happy. We feel our goal of starting the foundation in Nov 2008 has been fulfilled. Last six years have been a long and exciting journey but is has been a very challenging time. When we started we never knew the burden of problem was so high.  Along the way we have been privileged to be a part of lives of more than 600 kids and adults with Hypospadias from all over India and some countries abroad. Almost 25% of those receiving treatment at Hypospadias Foundation, have been patients with failed hypospadias who received surgery elsewhere. Though initially we started only with management of hypospadias in children but we realized that there is huge gap when it comes to treatment of hypospadias in adults. Along with Dr Manish Dubey, my close friend who is an adult urologist we are able to offer good care and success rates in adults and failed hypospadias.

In last three years, Hypospadias Foundation has welcomed many patients from many other states and countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Greece, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE-Dubai, Oman, Great Britain (UK), USA, Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Congo, Zambia and this number continues to grow attesting to our devotion to the field of Hypospadias. Within India, kids and their families have travelled for treatment of hypospadias from Assam, Kolkata, Orissa (Puri, Bhubhaneshwar), Ranchi, Chattisgarh (Raipur, Katni),  Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Surat, Baroda, Gandhinagar), MP (Indore, Bhopal), Himachal, Delhi, Haryana (Hissar, Rohtak, Panipat), Rajasthan (Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur), Maharashtra (Jalgaon, Pune,  Aurangabad, Nasik, Nagpur, Parbhani, Dhule, Solapur, Kolhapur, Ahmednagar, Ratnagiri), Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow, Allahabad, Meerut), Goa, Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad, Belgaum, Guntur), Uttarakhans (Dehradun), Jammu, Kerala (Cochin), Tamilnadu (Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore) and Punjab (Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Patiala).

About the author:

Dr A.K.Singal is a Pediatric Urologist and Hypospadiologist practicing in western india in area of Navi Mumbai and Thane. He is counted as one of the best hypospadias expert surgeons in the world and every year manages more than 200 kids and adults with hypospadias. He is available at the following clinics :

Watch video of Distal penile hypospadias repair surgery by Dr A.K.Singal

Hypospadias is a birth defect which affects a vital organ of the body- Penis. Penis is the most important organ for urinary and sexual function in a male. Though everyone worries more about sexual function, let me tell you as an expert hypospadias surgeon and a pediatric urologist that both urinary and sexual functions are equally important. While we may need penis for sexual function may be once or twice a day and for maybe for 30-40 years in our lives, we certainly need it for urinary function right from birth till we die and many more times each day. Hence the purpose of hypospadias repair is to set both the functions right in one go- single stage urethroplasty. This includes correction of the curvature of the penis (chordee correction) as well as making a good caliber smooth new urethra till the tip of penis.

But all said and done – Hypospadias treatment means a surgery. Surgery word itself is very scary and it requires a lot of courage and faith for the parents to handover their little one to a surgeon and let me tell you it is not easy for parents to hand over their young kid for a surgery. Lot of things go around in their minds about risks, results and safety of both surgery and anesthesia. Having been a pediatric urologist for almost a decade now, I can feel their helplessness and pain. I never let these feelings overpower me and become a stumbling block to delivering good care. I try to channelize them in the right way and empathize with the family and tell them upfront that I know how they are feeling. And then I tell them what all safety precautions and risk mitigation strategies we have lined up for the hypospadias surgery. My favorite sentence at this juncture is “Safety first everything else later”.

An helmet/ bike analogy works well in this situation: we should always follow all precautions before we go for a bike ride and most importantly wearing a helmet. We may wear a helmet a thousand times and not have an accident but the day we don’t wear it that is the day when we are vulnerable and if something happens- it will be life threatening. Similarly, while doing a hypospadias surgery on a small kid we also take all precautions to make sure that we are absolutely prepared even if something happens in that rare 1/1000 chances.

Hypospadias Surgery Checklist:

1. Pre-operative fitness tests: A thorough history is taken for any evidence of infection, other illness and any familial disorders. A complete blood count and a urine test is done to check for body parameters. A pediatrician consult is often taken for a systemic examination. Chest xray is no longer recommended routinely before elective surgery if the chest examination is normal.
2. Pediatric Anesthesiologist: An anesthesia doctor adept at handling kids and regularly giving anesthesia to small kids is the second most important team member after the pediatric urologist.
3. Hypospadias surgery set: Hypospadias repair surgery require fine, sharp and specialized microsurgery instruments- we keep is separately as a “Hypospadias Set” which is not used for any other surgery.
4. Operation theatre: OT needs to be clean, sterilized, have all safety equipment for anesthesia, good lighting and all possible infection control measures.
5. Antibiotic dose just before surgery: We give a dose of injectable broad spectrum antibiotic just before starting the surgery as an infection prevention measure.
6. Trained staff: Well-trained nursing and junior doctor staff is needed both while assisting surgeries as well as post-operative management, since at Hypospadias foundation at MITR Hospital, Navi Mumbai, India- we do more than 150 hypospadias repairs every year- even the ward assistants know the care of these babies after surgery.
7. Standardised protocol of surgery:  This has been covered in another blog- read it here.

As a Pediatric Urologist and Hypospadias Specialist, I feel overwhelmed when parents trust me and handover their little ones under my care. It is a big responsibility and I try my best to handle them with care. Trust and faith that everything will be fine goes a long way in finding a cure for hypospadias. After all we are all instruments of god trying to do our best. As long as the intentions and efforts are honest, the results will also be good.

About Dr A.K.Singal: Dr Singal is a renowned and top pediatric urologist & one of the best hypospadias surgeons in India. He is well known for single stage hypospadias surgical corrections. He operates children with hypospadias at his centre @ Hypospadias Foundation at Kharghar Navi Mumbai, at MGM & Fortis Hospitals in Vashi, at Fortis Hospital in Mulund, Mumbai and at Jupiter Hospital in Thane.

Dr A.K.Singal during Hypospadias surgery

Please feel free to write to us for an opinion at hypospadiasfoundationindia@gmail.com or fill this contact form http://hypospadiasfoundation.com/contact-patient.htm

Watch videos on our Youtube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGRDZGXlffY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9_buN10lUE

Hypospadias repair surgery is a very delicate and demanding surgery. It tests the ingenuity of the hypospadias surgeon, surgery skills and most importantly experience. We have realized that hypospadias repair procedure is not a surgery which can be done casually or as one of the many surgeries which a surgeon does. Best results of hypospadias surgeries are seen only when the surgeon dedicates his time and energy in pursuing the art and science of hypospadiology. Results keep on improving day by day and year by year. With more than 600 hypospadias repairs done over last 5 years, Hypospadias Foundation at MITR Hospital, Navi Mumbai, India provides the best results in hypospadias surgeries in south East asia. Children have travelled from all over India and other countries such as Nigeria, Greece, Bangladesh, Iraq, UAE to get treated under Dr Singal’s care for hypospadias.

To get the best outcome in hypospadias, it requires a big team effort which includes hypospadias surgeon, assistants, well trained OT staff and post-surgery caring staff.

No surgery is free of complication and complications happen even in the best of hypospadias surgeon’s hands though they keep in decreasing with advancing experience. Whenever we see any child with hypospadias in our clinic, we make sure that we discuss in detail about the possibility of complications and the post hypospadias surgery outcomes. Some of these we discuss it further here:

Immediate complications after hypospadias repair:

1. Bleeding – Penis is a very vascular organ with a lot of blood supply. Since hypospadias surgery involves lot of dissection of penis and making of various flaps, suturing them back in proper way is very vital in preventing this complication. The bleeding is usually minor and stops in 2-3 days. Earlier we used to apply heavy and tight dressings after hypospadias surgery but now we have realized that these actually delay healing as they compress the healing tissue. So presently the dressings which we use are very soft and light.
2. Infection- After any surgery, the immunity of the body goes down plus there is raw area which invites growth of infection causing bacteria.  Fortunately, when we do hypospadias repair in children, infection is very rare and even if it occurs is usually superficial and resolves with antibiotics. Various preventive actions are taken before hypospadias repair such as very sterile techniques in operation theatre, broad spectrum antibiotic at start of surgery and 8 hours after surgery, oral antibiotics after surgery and careful handling post-surgery.

Short term complications after hypospadias repair:

1. Urethral Fistula: Fistula implies leakage of urine somewhere from the newly formed urethral tube below the tip of penis. This occurs because of improper healing resulting from poor blood supply, infection, tight stitches or just poor surgical technique. Sometimes the urethral fistula after hypospadias surgery may heal by itself but mostly it requires surgery which is recommended only after 6 months of first hypospadias surgery. Fistula occurrence depends on experience of the hypospadias surgeon, severity of hypospadias and technique.
2. Meatal stenosis: This refers to a tight urinary opening after surgery of hypospadias. This can be seen even 2 weeks after surgery and may need regular calibration or minor cut back procedure called meatotomy in some cases.
3. Diverticulum: This refers to formation of a baggy distended urethral tube and is visible during passage of urine. This may be seen after an onlay flap repair for hypospadias as the skin flap expands and balloons during passage of urine. With careful trimming of the flap during surgery, this has become much less common and occurs in less than 1% of cases after hypospadias surgery.
4. Stricture: Sometimes during the healing phase, the new urethral tube may become narrow and cause obstruction to urine flow. This is noticed by poor stream, straining (application of force) during passage of urine and long time taken to pass urine. This may require further treatment in form of dilatation or a second surgery some months later.
5. Dehiscence/ breakdown: Very rarely, the whole repair may breakdown due to poor healing, infection or loss of blood supply requiring more surgeries. This is very uncommon and unfortunate event necessitating a complete redo repair of the hypospadias.

With the newer techniques of hypospadias repair and growing experience of hypospadias surgeons, the complications have become much less common after hypospadias surgery and even when they occur they can be managed well. It is well said that “the prepared mind never knows much trouble”. Once we know that complications can occur in any surgery and be prepared for them, it is much easier to initiate preventive action during surgery itself. Also, it is vital to identify complications earlier so that they can be managed well in time before any long term damage occurs.

About the author:

Dr A.K.Singal is a Pediatric urologist and is renowned as one of the best hypospadias surgeons in India for his dedication towards Hypospadias and excellent results of hypospadias surgery. He has been an invited speaker in various national and international medical conferences and workshops for hypospadias. He is also the founder of Hypospadias Foundation – an organization dedicated to best of care for children with hypospadias. Dr Singal practices art and science of hypospadias treatment in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai area of western India.

Visit Hypospadias Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/pedurohypospadias

Watch videos of Hypospadias surgery by Dr A.K.Singal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGRDZGXlffY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9_buN10lUE

Letter from Across the Seas:

Dear Dr Singal,

Trust all is well with you. We are glad that we came all the way to India to you for our boys and are thankful to you for treating our boys with such care and in a single stage surgery for Hypospadias. As discussed, I have written the write up for the blog. These are basically my views, learnings and tips for other parents, especially the Hospitalization including pre-surgery and post hypospadias surgery course.

Regards,

S.P.

Dubai

THE WRITE-UP

———————–

Dear Parent,

As parents we all are concerned for our child(ren)’s wellbeing. We interact a lot with Pediatricians and Specialist Pediatrician from birth till their teens. From Vaccinations to Major surgery we ensure our child(ren) gets best of the treatment and care. Until both my twin boys were detected with Hypospadias, I was inexperienced and the entire journey from initial diagnose to surgery has taught me a lot.

Here are some tips, learnings and guidance for parents

Before the meeting the Doctor

1.    Most cases of Hypospadias are detected at birth. The Pediatrician at birth may not be expert enough to guide further so it’s better to consult a Pediatric Urologist or expert hypospadias surgeon as soon as possible.

2.    There is no benchmark for earlier consultation, but its better the visit to the Pediatric Urologist when the child is less than 6 months old.

3.    If you are an outstation patient and are communicating with the doctor over emails ensure you share following info:

• Baby’s Allergies and medications
• Any special medication or condition
• Any hospitalization and the reason

Sometimes this information doesn’t affect the course of hypospadias surgery but its always safe to share as this helps the anesthesiologist for planning a safe anesthesia

4.    If you have a limited timeframe for your visit than

• Check if there are any further tests (like blood or urine tests) or investigations required before you meet the pediatric urologist
• As required by the doctor, perform the tests and send the reports to doctor for further guidance. This can be done via email. Since I was traveling from Dubai, I did these tests as recommended by Dr Singal even before I landed up in Mumbai
• Sometimes a certain blood count such a hemoglobin may be needed to be normal before hypospadias repair procedure is required to perform before surgery and if the count is not as preferred it may take month to reach the desired level.

5.    Check for the travel plans of the doctor so that it doesn’t clash with your visit. Sometimes the doctor maybe traveling for vacation or for a conference.

6.    Convey your travel plans to the doctor

Once you meet the doctor, most of your doubts will be cleared in the initial meeting. A date for hypospadias surgery will be decided in the meeting. If you have questions or doubts regarding the hypospadias treatment procedure please ask the doctor, he will be happy to guide. Sometimes you may have doubts or questions post consultation check with the doctor if you can email for such doubts. The doctor may suggest hospitalization before the day of the surgery and also some additional tests whenever needed.

My twin son’s both had hypospadias and we elected to have surgery for first kid on Monday and second one on Tuesday.

When we reached the hospital we had some minor issues as it was Sunday and we were supposed to see the doctor on call in ER. Since they were already alerted for our visit the doctor on call was prepared with all the requirements. They were to do a blood test on one of my twin. To avoid double prick they decided to insert cannula for one of my boys. And then the hell broke. We had two crying babies (one due to prick and other seeing the first one) and there were hospital formalities to be fulfilled.

Hospitalization

1.    Before admission to the hospital

• Reach hospital half an hour before the schedule time.
• Insist – The Cannula And Blood Tests Be Done Only After The Kid Is Settled In The Room
• Request for the allotment of room and fulfill all the formalities
• Ask for hospital clothes for the baby
• Change the baby in hospital clothes
• Once the child is settled than ask doctor on call to the needful

2.    Inform the hospital staff if your child is on a special diet and if they can provide.

3.    Carry baby products – wipes, diapers, any special food or milk powder you may be giving, soft toys which soothes them

4.    Carry you basic requirements for two days of hospitalization

5.    Since the hypospadias operation will be done under anesthesia, check till when the child be given food/water/milk.

 After Care

1.    Learn to change the baby double diaper. We were happy as with double diaper technique the babies were nicely tugged in and there was little fear of catheter dislodgement.

2.    Learn the medications of the baby

3.    Don’t discontinue medication unless the doctor advise

4.    Follow up visits with the doctor

The child will have discomfort and can be cranky due to operation the doctor will guide you. This is a normal phase after any surgery with children as penis is a sensitive organ and pain may be there for a first few days. But as one learned person said “ This too shall pass” It did pass for us. Now when we look back, the difficult days just went by in a jiffy. With the love and support of Dr A.K.Singal, junior doctors and nurses, we saw them through.

My personal advice – Stay Calm and positive through the process.

All the best

Regards,

An experienced Parent

——————————————————————-

Please feel free to write to us for an opinion at hypospadiasfoundationindia@gmail.com or fill this contact form http://hypospadiasfoundation.com/contact-patient.htm

Watch videos on our Youtube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGRDZGXlffY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9_buN10lUE

Hypospadias is a very common birth defect affecting up to 1/150 newborn baby boys. In the current era most of the couples choose to have one or maximum two children and that too with a lot of planning. The moment the newborn baby boy is diagnosed to have hypospadias – besides distress and worry for the baby’s health and future parents also start worrying about other things. These are:

• When should the surgery be done
• Where and by whom should the surgery be done
• What will be the long term outcome after surgery
• How much is the hypospadias repair surgery going to cost

While the first three questions have been answered elsewhere, the last question forms the substance of this blog. Parents always worry ” Is hypospadias repair surgery going to be very expensive?, Would my insurance policy pay for hypospadias surgery since hypospadias is a birth defect”

The cost of hypospadias repair surgery varies according to the type & severity of the hypospadias, type of surgical technique, time taken by the hypospadias surgeon, assistant used or not and finally type of room taken- general ward or shared room or a single deluxe room.

• Elaborating further – for a mild variety of hypospadias like glanular/ distal penile hypospadias with mild chordee, an expert hypospadias surgeon will take under one hour for surgery, work without assistant surgeon and the charges may start from 1000 US Dollars (60,000 Indian rupees) while for a severe hypospadias such as scrotal/ perineal hypospadias the charges may go upto 3500 US dollars (2,00,000 Indian rupees) for a single stage urethroplasty.
• Some of the hospitals in Mumbai may be more expensive than say for example Hypospadias Foundation at MITR Hospital in Navi Mumbai.
• For some of the severe hypospadias a staged urethroplasty repair may be needed and then the budget may extend further but this happens in less than 5% of the cases. Though at Hypospadias Foundation located at MITR Hospital in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, majority of our hypospadias repair surgeries are single stage urethroplasty surgeries, still in 4-5% of the children referred to us, the hypospadias may have a very severe chordee necessitating a two stage approach for better long term outcomes.

Hence, the actual charges of hypospadias repair can only be decided after a full hypospadias examination and discussion with the parents face to face.

Similar hypospadias surgery in USA carries upto ten times the charges and maybe 5-6 times of Indian charges in Europe. When looked at in context of India, though most of the families are able to afford these expenses, for some indian families these may still be high. Some of these families get support from Hypospadias Foundation either as medical consumables support or by way of some discounts in surgeries at Hypospadias Foundation. We have tried to ensure a policy of NEVER Saying NO to a child with hypospadias for economic reasons. If the intent is right, money comes in as Donations etc.

Coverage of Hypospadias by Insurance Companies:

Hypospadias being a birth defect is generally not covered by most of the insurance companies in India atleast while in USA, UK it is covered under insurance benefits. Some of the corporate insurance group covers do include all pre-existing as well as birth defects for their employees and hence hypospadias repair procedure may be covered by the insurance company by some of these companies.

In the other cases, the parents usually end up paying up these charges by themselves out of their own pocket. For new parents working in a job or middle class environment this may be stressful. What helps is that Hypospadias repair surgery is a planned procedure. It can be done anytime between 6 months-15 months of age giving parents enough time to rally around and arrange everything from money to other resources. Hence, it is best that they meet a hypospadias expert or a pediatric urologist early on in first 1-2 months and then learn everything about the charges, hospital stay, pre-hypospadias surgery tests and then get mentally prepared for the actual surgery.

Please feel write to us for an opinion at hypospadiasfoundationindia@gmail.com or fill this contact form Contact Hypospadias Foundation

Before we talk about goals of hypospadias surgery, let’s understand the issues in uncorrected hypospadias.

Anatomical defects in Hypospadias: Hypospadias encompasses two basic structural defects in the penis- abnormal location of the urinary opening and chordee (bend in the penis). Another minor defect is incomplete foreskin (prepuce) which does not lead to much cosmetic or functional impairment. We regularly use prepuce and its internal tissues for performing a strong structural hypospadias repair, hence circumcision most often is a part of the procedure.

Functional issues in Hypospadias: Functionally, penis has two important aspects:

1. Ensure Smooth uninterrupted flow of urine-possible by a wide caliber of urethra
2. Sexual organ for intercourse and also for passage of semen for fertility

Except in minor hypospadias, in all moderate to severe hypospadias both these functions are impaired unless corrected.

Cosmetic deformity in Hypospadias: Last but not the least, except for very minor hypospadias without chordee – all the other hypospadias lead to significant cosmetic deformity which most of the teenagers and adults would not accept as normal. Genital perception is important in overall normal development of the child into a balanced teenager and adult later on.

Goals of Hypospadias repair: Hypospadias surgery procedure (urethroplasty) mostly in single stage and rarely in multiple stages (depending on the severity of hypospadias) aims to correct these structural defects, impart a good functional outcome both from urinary perspective all throughout life and later in adulthood for sexual purposes with a good cosmetic appearance.

Hence, when doing the hypospadias correction, a hypospadias expert surgeon keeps all these goals in mind. The stepwise approach with a standardized protocol helps in achieving all these goals. Over the last two decades, lot of research and dedicated best hypospadias surgeons have made sure that the anatomy and functional aspects are taken care of in an appropriate manner with long lasting good outcomes.

Stepwise standardized hypospadias surgery protocol

(As practiced by Dr A.K.Singal, Pediatric Urologist & Hypospadias Expert)

After nearly 7 years of dedicated hypospadias surgeries, we and other top hypospadias surgeons have realized that it is very important to follow a standardized approach as follows:

• Examination under Anesthesia with magnification: The clinical examination done in outpatient department may not have been sufficient. Re-examining the child under anesthesia in detail while wearing magnifying loupes allows a hypospadias surgeon to create a mental roadmap. While scrubbing, draping, painting this roadmap provides a reliable navigation and focus to achieve best results during hypospadias repair.
• Marking of skin incisions and injection of anesthetic agent with adrenaline: We routinely as a first step mark the incision sites and then inject dilute xylocaine and adrenaline and then wait for five minutes. This prevents minor bleeds from the hypospadias surgery site and keeps the area clean. This also allows decreases the use of electrocautery to stop the bleeding to a minimum.
• Degloving the penis: Incisions are deepened preserving the nerve and blood supply to penis and whole skin of the penis is taken down – a step called degloving. This is done in all l hypospadias surgeries and most of the times is enough for correction of the chordee. The penis is carefullu delgoved preserving the urethral plate. Till this time, the technique of hypospadias repair is still not decided.
• Chordee correction: Once penis is completely degloved, an artificial erection test is done to make sure that the penis is straight else various types of chordee correction procedures can be done. Straightening of the penis is the prerequisite for any type of urethroplasty and a surgeon should not move ahead with urethroplasty till chordee correction is satisfactory.
• Deciding the technique of Hypospadias repair (Urethroplasty): After chordee correction, anatomy is assessed again. If the hypospadias is not very severe and the urethral plate (tissue between urinary opening till the glans) is wide, soft and elastic- a Tubularised Incised plate urethroplasty (Snodgrass repair) can be done). In a proximal hypospadias or a poor urethral plate, onlay island flap repair should be done. If the skin just below the urethral plate is good, then a Mathieu’s flip flap repair can also be done. If the urethral plate has been transected to correct the penis curvature then a precpucial tube repair should be considered or a staged hypospadias repair can be done.
• Second layer coverage to prevent fistula: A second layer cover over the new urethra is very important to prevent urethral fistula post hypospadias surgery. This can be taken from surrounding spongiosum, dartos fascia from prepuce or tunica vaginalis (covering of the testis)
• Glansplasty and meatoplasty: Reconstruction of the head of penis is a critical component for good cosmetic result as well as to make sure the opening is wide enough to allow free passage of urine. This is ensured by wide dissection of glans and also while closing the glans new urethra should be able to accommodate a good sized catheter without tension. Meatus should be left wide and an effort is made to make it like a slit like meatus which is cosmetically pleasing.
• Penile skin closure: Excess prepuce on the top of penis is split in midline and brought on either side towards underside of penis. Jacket shaped incisions are made to remove extra foreskin and then a midline suture line is created for an excellent cosmetic outcome after hypospadias repair.
• Proper fixation of the catheter: Urethral catheter is fixed with a stitch taken through glans so that it stays inside. The catheter is kept for 5-10 days depending on the type of surgery and healing.
• Dressing: Decade ago very bulky and tight hypospadias dressings were in vogue, nowadays we use very soft and light dressings which can be removed easily an then let the catheter drain into a double diaper.

Following these sequential hypospadias surgery steps and a standardised protocol over last few years in more than 500 kids, has led to faster surgery, shorter anesthesia times, lesser bleeding, better cosmesis and extremely low rates of complications after hypospadias surgery at Hypospadias Foundation. And most importantly, this has also made sure that all the goals of hypospadias surgery are properly met.

The tale of hypospadias does not stop in first few years of life for everyone. This is especially true of adults and adolescents who underwent hypospadias surgery repair using older techniques and with lesser trained Hypospadias surgeons 15-20 years back. While a majority of these have done well, there is a sizable population of adults in India who have persistent issues secondary to hypospadias such as urethral fistulas, persistent penile chordee (bending of penis), urethral stricture or bad cosmetic outcome. As Pediatric urologist and a surgeon with deep interest in hypospadias (hypospadiologist), we keep seeing such patients on a regular basis now.

There are atleast estimated 5 lakh adults/ adolescents in India with untreated, complicated or residual issues of hypospadias in India. Some of these people live an unsatisfied life thinking that no cure is possible because that is what they have been brought up to think. Individuals who have failed multiple surgeries are called Hypospadias cripples in medical community signifying the crippling effect which inadequately treated hypospadias can have in a person’s life.

Fortunately, with newer techniques, better hypospadias surgery instruments, very good sutures like PDS, availability of dedicated hypospadias surgery teams and expert hypospadias surgeons good results are possible in any patient with previous failed hypospadias surgery even in hypospadias cripples.

Here is story in point:

Six months back I saw Mr RK, a 30 year old young man, who had been a case of failed hypospadias – operated for hypospadias twice in his childhood in a hospital in Delhi. Both the surgeries had met with partial success and his parents had left him like that and lost hope at a completely functional urethra. RK had been a good student and went on to do Engineering graduation from IIT and then a MBA from Pune. He had taken up a job in multinational company and now was planning to get married. Infact, he had delayed marriage inspite of a successful career because he was never satisfied with outcome of his hypospadias surgery. That’s why he looked up on internet and came to see us at Hypospadias Foundation in Navi Mumbai.

At the first consultation itself and being in relatively the same age group, we hit it off really well and he was quite frank and objective about his condition and that kind of interaction helps a hypospadias specialist like me. When I examined him, he had a persistent mild chordee but the bigger issue was his urinary opening (meatus) was not on the tip of penis (glans penis) but way down in distal penile location. He had many skin bridges and scarred islands of skin and a large urethral fistula in proximal penile region. There was a bit of penoscrotal transposition as well. On questioning, he was passing 50% of the urine from the urethral fistula and 50% from the distal penile location without any straining and in good urinary stream. None of these problems were major by themselves and could have been cured easily but after two failed hypospadias repairs in childhood, I think parents just gave up hope.

So we discussed with RK at length about the various things which needed to be done-

• Distal urethroplasty using flap from nearby ventral penile skin,
• Closure of urethral fistula (fistula repair) in multiple layers with tunica vaginalis flap
• Correction of penoscrotal transposition
• And chordee correction by dorsal plication.

The surgery was done next week at MITR Hospital & Hypospadias Foundation. Dr Manish Dubey, Urologist and Co-founder of Hypospadias Foundation helped me with the surgery and management immediately post surgery. RK was sent home the day after surgery. A follow up visit for hypospadias dressing removal was planned on day 5 and catheter removal o day 10.

Some of things especially in adults undergoing hypospadias surgery, which we took care of to ensure smooth recovery and are different from children:

• Postoperative pain and erections
• Choosing the right urethral catheter and drainage bag

We were also worried about higher chances of wound infection and bleeding after redo-hypospadias repair. For pain and prevention of erections we gave benzodiazepine derivative tablets and phenobarbitone along with diclofenac and that helped pretty well for two weeks. For the catheter, we used a Foleys silicon catheter for 10 days and left it to drain in a urine bag which RK could carry with him and walk around within his home.

Fortunately, everything went well and now after 3 months of hypospadias surgery, the hypospadias surgery site is healing well and there is no more pain during erections. The urine stream is good and RK is passing from the tip of his penis for the first time in his life standing like a normal man. He is not shy to use the public toilets anymore- He just stands up and delivers.

We have asked him to wait for three more months before planning marriage and these three months he is actually going to spend in finding the right girl for himself. For him, we hope the chapter of HYPOSPADIAS is closed now.

The only question remains whether as a Hypospadiologist I will get invited to his marriage- if yes, how will he introduce me? As the doctor who fixed his penis? I think that is too much and I will just skip attending his marriage and I wish him the best of luck always from our side and from everyone at MITR hospital and Hypospadias Foundation in Navi Mumbai, India.

Last Monday was like any other Monday. My pediatric urology clinic was full with appointments and I was getting into the rhythm of seeing children with complicated urinary problems and hypospadias. A young couple walked in with twin male babies, each about 7 months old. The boys were naughty and attentive and soon were soaking in the yellow and pink and greens of my outpatient clinic. I looked at the file and asked them the pediatric urological issues for which they were seeing me that day. They said their kid had hypospadias and both of them had hypospadias infact and they wanted to see a Pediatric urologist. Now that was a shocker!! Though this was not the first time that I was seeing twin boys with Hypospadias, but it was that once in two years phenomenon. And more striking since these boys had exactly the same type of hypospadias- which was distal penile hypospadias with mild chordee. Last year I had treated two brothers with hypospadias but the age was 3 and 5 years and thus difference in age was 2 years. The elder one has a mid penile hypospadias while the younger one had a distal penile hypospadias. I suddenly remembered the dilemmas which face a Pediatric Urologist & a Hypospadiologist while treating siblings with hypospadias.

• Which boy do you treat first – plan according to age – elder first or severity wise and severe hypospadias first and minor later?

• Whether you do them the same day or one after the other or with some gap of days in between?

• How will the parents manage two babies getting operated for the same thing at the same time?

• And if you operate one baby with hypospadias first and second one a few days later- what is the effect on their minds? How do they cope up with a situation where one has undergone a hypospadias surgery and the other one is waiting. Does the second kid get scared seeing the first one in pain after surgery and undergoing hospital visits and checkups? It was a tough situation to be in – for me as a hypospadias surgeon and even more for the parents who will have to care for the children 24×7 after surgery.

After a lot of deliberation, we decided that we do the hypospadias repair one after the other but on the consecutive days at MITR Hospital & Hypospadias Foundation. We admitted the elder sibling (with more severe hypospadias) for surgery on Tuesday morning and surgery was conducted as the first case in the morning. The younger kid was admitted on Wednesday morning and underwent uneventful repair on Wednesday itself. We arranged for two beds in one room so that both of them can share their side of the story. At least here there was no scope of having a feeling of being left out. Both of them for a fact got a HYPOSPADIAS SURGERY. Recovery period after surgery was smooth and both of them were discharged on Wednesday evening. The kids came back for follow-up on the same day after a week and their catheters were removed the same day. The children pee’d and actually compared their streams and for me luckily- both had good thick straight urine streams without any complications. Deep inside, throughout the recovery period, I was a bit worried about a complication happening. Luckily, everything went well and I had two happy kids with me. Now coming back to present case at hand- where I have a set of twin babies with hypospadias. So going by my previous experience, I think we will stick to the same plan. The only advantage here is that the kids are still less than one year of age and they won’t think much about surgery. I am planning to do them on a Tuesday and a Wednesday and then send them home on Wednesday itself.

Medicine lends itself to unusual off the script events every day and as we say every patient has a story. For us at Hypospadias Foundation – we believe every child hypospadias has a story with happy ending.

Hypospadias is recognized as a pediatric urological disorder, the incidence of which is on the rise over the last two decades. While researchers and clinicians agree that the detection and diagnosis rate of hypospadias has increased due to increased awareness, it is also certain that there are other factors which are contributing to the increased incidence of hypospadias.
The last few studies have noted the incidence of hypospadias to be almost 1/150 newborn boys. This is substantial as compared to what was reported to be 1/250 boys two decades back.
To understand what leads to higher incidence of hypospadias we have to understand in a simple language how Hypospadias happens. During the critical phase of sex development in the baby during pregnancy – at around 8 weeks both the male and female sexual organs look similar. Between 8-14 weeks, under the influence of male hormones produced by the testis (Testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone, also called androgens) these organs develop into male organs. These hormones cause the genital tubercle to enlarge and become a penis and at the same time the urinary passage (called urethra) starts developing on the underside of the penis and closes like a zipper from the bottom to the tip of penis. All this is a very intricate coordinated activity and guided by levels and actions of male hormones. Blockage of action of these hormones or lower levels in this critical phase lead to an incomplete urethra resulting in hypospadias. Thus, the urethra falls short of the tip and urethral opening remains on the underside of penis.
Recent research has shown that the rising levels of chemicals in environment so called Endocrine disruptors have been responsible in some ways for this rise in the incidence of hypospadias and other reproductive anomalies such as undescended testis, low sperm counts and testicular cancer. These chemicals come from pesticides, colouring agents, dyes, hair sprays, plastics used in cars, bottles etc. They are all around us and it may take us many years to see their full blown effect on human bodies. Even hormonal treatment for infertility such as IVF, smoking and excessive analgesic use during pregnancy has been shown to have increase the risk of hypospadias. In an environment loaded with pollution and unknown synthetic chemical residues, we can never ascertain fully how the cumulative effect of all these agents affects the gentle developing organs of the baby.
We recently conducted the largest study yet in India about finding out the incidence of hypospadias and undescended testis in India. We found that incidence of undescended testis has increased to almost 5% and hypospadias 1/126 babies in India. Earlier reported incidence for undescended testis was 1.6% in 1971, so it has almost tripled in last 40 years. Hypospadias incidence has not been reported in India yet.
Extrapolating these figures, there will be around 110,000 babies born with Hypospadias every year in India and they will need counseling and proper treatment. Similarly, almost 7 lakh (700,000) babies will be born with undescended testis and almost 30% of these – almost 2 lakh babies (200,000) will need surgery for undescended testis every year. These numbers are not small by any stretch of imagination and call for further research and awareness among general public, governmental organisations as well as doctors.
Dr A.K.Singal, Pediatric urologist & Hypospadiologist, presented these findings at European Society of Pediatric Urology Annual Congress in Genoa, Italy in April 2013. The study was very well appreciated and we won a prize also for it.
At Hypospadias Foundation, we have committed ourselves to excellent clinical care of children with Hypospadias but equally importantly towards meaningful clinical research in the field of Hypospadiology also. In India typically we follow data from the west as we do not have means to collect our own data or just that our priorities towards care for the large population are so huge that we do not have time/ resources for research. Since Hypospadias Foundation is an autonomous body, we have made research our important goal and made it a missionary zeal to collect our own data within India, learn from our own data and then share the research results with the rest of the world.
Medical Science moves forwards by doing clinical work and also analyzing that we are doing today is better than what we did yesterday. But if we can use scientific research tools to find out why hypospadias happen, why are they increasing and what can be done to decrease the incidence – that will be the most fruitful use of science. Prevention is always better than treatment.