Single Stage Repair Surgery for Distal Hypospadias and Penile Torsion

Hypospadias Foundation starts Clinic for Hypospadias Treatment & Surgery in Bahrain

10-month child was brought with complaints of deviation of urine stream and abnormal location of meatus. On clinical examination there was distal penile hypospadias with severe penile torsion measuring 90 degrees to the left. We planned a single stage correction for both Penile torsion and distal penile hypospadias.

Penile torsion

Notice Penile torsion to left

Distal Hypospadias with Penile torsion

Surgery Steps:

Marking of the degloving incision. Local anaesthesia was infiltrated at the marked incision site. Complete degloving was done and chordee was assessed using artificial erection test. 30-degree chordee was noted. Chordee correction was done by Tunica albuginea plication at 12’O clock on the dorsal side. Following this correction, chordee was reassessed and no chordee was noted. Urethroplasty was started by incising urethral plate in the midline. Urethroplasty was done over a 7Fr Infant feeding tube with 6-0 PDS continuous sutures. Dartos flap was harvested for extra coverage over urethroplasty which was sutured using 6-0 PDS. Penoscrotal web correction was also done. Excess skin excised and sutured using 5-0 vicryl rapide. Skin flaps were rotated and adjusted to correct the penile torsion and sutured all around using 5-0 vicryl rapide. Dressing and catheter were in situ for 7 days. Following 7 days, dressing and catheter was removed.

Penile torsion and Hypospadias repair

Finished Hypospadias and Penile torsion surgery

Final outcome of correction of penile torsion and hypospadias

Results

The Final result was very gratifying with a straight penis without any torsion. The child was passing urine in good stream in straight axis without any discomfort or pain.

About Hypospadias repair and penile torsion

Penile torsion is a condition wherein the penis is rotated or twisted on its axis. The penile torsion is more commonly to the left. Many a time penile torsion may not be detected till a circumcision is planned or foreskin is retracted.

Penile torsion may be associated with hypospadias and/or chordee (penile curvature). With hypospadias, penile torsion is mostly associated with distal penile cases.

Based on the degree of glanular rotation, penile torsion can be classified as mild, moderate, and severe. It is mild if its less than 45 degree, moderate if it’s between 45-90 degree and severe if more than 90 degree.

Penile torsion in majority of cases (>85%) is between 10 to 20 degree. If it is a moderate or severe degree of torsion, urine stream may be deviated to one side.

Surgical intervention is not always required in isolated penile torsion. The indications for surgical correction are cosmetic, functional, or sexual. When penile torsion is associated with hypospadias, it should be corrected along with Hypospadias repair or urethroplasty at the same time.

About Hypospadias Foundation

Hypospadias foundation is a centre which provides personalized and best quality care for children and adults with hypospadias. It is one of the best hospital centres in India and world for surgical treatment for hypospadias in adults and children.  Our dedication in the field of hypospadias has helped us achieve excellent outcomes in these patients. We treat children and adults not only from various parts of India but also from more than 25 countries all over the world. Hypospadias foundation is located at MITR hospital in Kharghar, Navi-Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Every year more than 200 surgeries for hypospadias are performed at MITR hospital and Hypospadias Foundation

Contact us:

For appointment kindly contact us at the contact details given below.

  • MITR hospital & Hypospadias Foundation, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, India
  • MITR Clinic: C1/8 Ground floor, Sector-2, VashiCall

Call for appointments: +91-2227743558/ 27744229/ 39/69 and +919324180553.

Or you can fill up this form- Contact form for Dr Singal

Dr A.K.Singal presents his work at Hypospadias World Congress at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, USA

Hypospadias Foundation starts Clinic for Hypospadias Treatment & Surgery in Bahrain

Dr A.K.Singal was an invited speaker at Hypospadias World Congress at Children’s Research Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, USA, held between 30th October 2019-1st Nov 2019. Dr Singal presented four papers on hypospadias treatment and moderated scientific sessions during the conference.

The conference saw participation from more than 150 pediatric urologists and hypospadias specialists from across the world. The conference solely focussed on hypospadias. Various aspects of hypospadias were discussed such as etiology, diagnosis, hormonal tests and supplementation (testosterone injections), surgery techniques and complications/ results of hypospadias surgeries.

Dr A.K.Singal

Dr A.K.Singal

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.

Checklist before Hypospadias Repair Surgery

Hypospadias Foundation starts Clinic for Hypospadias Treatment & Surgery in Bahrain

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

Cost of Hypospadias Surgery in India

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

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