Hypospadias

Efficacy of adjuvant dexmedetomidine on penile block for pediatric hypospadias repair

INTRODUCTION

The management of postoperative pain, particularly in younger children, presents a challenge due to their limited ability to articulate the intensity of pain, lower pain threshold, and restricted availability of approved analgesics for pediatric use. Peripheral nerve blocks may be favored over neuraxial blocks because they allow quicker mobilization after surgery.

OBJECTIVE

The present study aims to investigate the potential impact of adding dexmedetomidine to a local anesthetic (bupivacaine) on the analgesic efficacy in dorsal penile nerve block in hypospadias repair surgery.

METHOD

In this prospective double-blinded clinical trial, 50 children aged between 6 months and 6 years old undergoing hypospadias repair surgery participated. Analgesia was administered through a dorsal penile nerve block (DPNB) at the end of surgery. Participants were divided into two groups; one received bupivacaine alone, and the other received dexmedetomidine and bupivacaine in DPNB. Pain and sedation levels were assessed with FLACC score and MOAA/S score, respectively, at 0,1,2 and 4 h after surgery. Vital signs and adverse effects were also recorded, including hemodynamic changes, nausea, and vomiting.

RESULT

There was no statistically significant difference in demographic variables. As illustrated in Figure, the median of FLACC score in group BD was significantly lower compared to group B at every measured time point. MOAA/S score was significantly lower in group BD than in group B (p < 0.001), indicating a higher sedation level. None of the participants in either group experienced any adverse effect except for vomiting, which was not statistically significant (8 % in group B vs. 4 % in group BD, p > 0.999).

DISCUSSION

Several studies have documented the supplementary analgesic properties of dexmedetomidine when used in conjunction with local anesthetic during various surgical procedures and nerve blocks. The present study provides evidence for the additional analgesic efficacy of dexmedetomidine and bupivacaine in the context of dorsal penile nerve block during hypospadias repair surgery while not yielding any significant adverse outcomes. Although the patients in our study were monitored for 4 h in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), conducting a more comprehensive assessment of patients is advisable.

CONCLUSION

The findings of our study indicate that incorporating dexmedetomidine alongside bupivacaine in dorsal penile nerve block during hypospadias repair surgery may lead to enhanced management of postoperative pain. The lack of adverse effects implies it may be a potentially safe supplementary pain reliever for surgical procedures.

Isoamyl 2-cyanoacrylate interposition in the urethro-cutaneous fistula repair: A randomized controlled trial

Background

We aim to evaluate isoamyl 2-cyanoacrylate as an intervening layer in the surgical repair of the urethra-cutaneous fistula (UCF) after hypospadias in comparison with the classic surgical repair technique.

Methods

Between January 2017 and July 2018, 40 patients with UCF were randomized into two equal groups. Group I represented a multilayered closure with dartos fascia flap while using cyanoacrylate glue as an interposition layer, while group II represented the same procedure without applying the glue. We followed up our patients for 6 months following the procedure to evaluate a successful closure.

Results

Forty patients were available for evaluation at the end of our study. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding their demographic data. The mean fistula size was 3.25 ± 0.64 and 3.15 ± 0.75 mm in group I and II, respectively, with a statistically significant difference. Successful UCF closure was achieved in 80% of cases in group I (16/20) and 70% of group II (14/20) with no statistically significant difference. There was no statistically significant difference between both groups as regards the occurrence of mild complications in the postoperative period, which was 10% in both groups.

Conclusion

The application of cyanoacrylate during UCF repair was feasible and safe. The successful repair of UCF was found to be higher with cyanoacrylate. However, we could not demonstrate a statistically significant difference between the two groups.

Trial registration number The trial is registered at clinicaltrial.gov with trial registration number: NCT04876976 (retrospective registration)

Risk factors for urethrocutaneous fistula following hypospadias repair surgery in Indonesia

INTRODUCTION

Hypospadias is one of the most common congenital malformations with a worldwide increasing trend over the years. Despite advancements in hypospadias repair, complications still occur. One of the most common complications of hypospadias repair surgery is Urethrocutaneous fistula. Studies attempting to analyze the association between the complication and risk factors are always beneficial, especially for studies performed in different areas of the world. We hypothesize that several evaluated risk factors among Indonesian hypospadias patients could be associated with the occurrence of urethrocutaneous fistula after the repair procedure.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the risk factors associated with urethrocutaneous fistula after hypospadias repair surgery by collecting and analyzing data obtained from multiple centers in Indonesia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A nationwide, retrospective study with 12 hospitals in Indonesia of children with a diagnosis of hypospadias was conducted. The collected data, taken from patients admitted in 2018, from each center's medical records consisted of patient identity, repair technique used, neourethra length, percutaneous cystostomy, and splint size as independent variables speculated to be possible risk factors correlated to the presence of urethrocutaneous fistulae. Binomial logistic regression analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0 to determine the relationship between urethrocutaneous fistulae as a post-repair complication and possible risk factors.

RESULTS

We collected 591 hypospadias cases from 12 centers in 9 cities in Indonesia. Most patients came when they were already at the age of more than four years old (60.4%). The chordee-only and failed urethroplasty groups are excluded from the analysis as they are not classified as true hypospadias. Most repairs were performed by using the Tubular Incised Plate (TIP) with Thiersch-Duplay technique (44.16%). Most of the reconstructed neourethra are 2-3 cm in length (32.13%). The 8 Fr urethral splint (46.41%) was mostly used during the operation. Most surgeons decided not to perform cystostomy throughout the procedure (61.03%) based on personal preferences. Urethrocutaneous fistula was found in 80 patients (15.27%) out of the total patients who underwent the surgery. The binomial logistic regression analysis shows that age (OR = 1.398, p = 0.015), the decision to not perform cystostomy (OR = 2.963, p = 0.014), and splint size (OR = 1.243, p = 0.023) are significantly associated (p < 0.05) with the development of urethrocutaneous fistula.

CONCLUSION

Age and splint size are significant risk factors for urethrocutaneous fistula after hypospadias repair in Indonesia, whereas performing percutaneous cystostomy during the repair decreases the risk for urethrocutaneous fistula occurrence.

The risk factors of Urethrocutaneous fistula after hypospadias surgery in the youth population

Background

The current research aims to evaluate the risk factors of urethrocutaneous fistula after hypospadias surgery among the youth in China.

Methods

One hundred twenty hypospadias patients were enrolled in our study. All of them were defined as Tanner 4 or 5. The information collected from the participants include age, urethral operation history, urinary comorbidities before operation, urine test before operation, body temperature before and after operation, type of surgical repair, chordee degree, urethral defect length and whether received vesicostomy after surgery or not. Independent t test, chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression were performed to evaluate the risk factor of urethrocutaneous fistula.

Results

Among the enrolled patients, 39 patients (32.5%) developed urethrocutaneous fistula after hypospadias repair. Our result showed significant association between the group with urethrocutaneous fistula and the group without urethrocutaneous fistula with respect to age, pyuria before operation, urethral defect length and the urethral operation history. The following logistic regression showed that urethral defect length and the urethral operation history were the risk factors of urethrocutaneous fistula.

Conclusions

Urethral defect length and urethral operation history should be taken into consideration before undergoing hypospadias surgery since our study discovered that the risk of developing urethrocutaneous fistula after hypospadias repair is associated with urethral defect length and urethral operation history. Age, surgical procedure, type of surgical repair, chordee degree and other factors were not obviously related to the development of urethrocutaneous fistula.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12894-018-0366-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Preoperative Testosterone Therapy Prior to Surgical Correction of Hypospadias: A Review of the Literature

Hypospadias is a congenital anomaly of the male urethra that causes significant morbidity in the pediatric male population. The mainstay of treatment is hypospadias repair surgery. However, given the common co-occurrence of microphallus in these patients, surgery remains difficult without adequate tissue for proper reconstruction of the urethra. The use of preoperative testosterone therapy, parenterally or topically, has been a topic of study for several years in urologic literature. This literature review aims to summarize the different studies that have been conducted to address whether preoperative testosterone therapy is beneficial, inconsequential, or detrimental to the surgical and cosmetic outcomes of hypospadias repair as well as to address the differences in routes of administration.

2-octyl cyanoacrylate versus reintervention for closure of urethrocutaneous fistulae after urethroplasty for hypospadias: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Urethrocutaneous fistulae (UCFs) represent one of the most frequent causes of morbidity after urethroplasty. Hypospadias can be repaired using different surgical techniques, but-regardless of technique-the incidence of UCF ranges between 10% and 40%. Surgical repair of UCF remains the treatment of choice, even if some patients need further surgery because of recurrences. Cyanoacrylates have been used as skin suture substitutes, and some evidence suggests a beneficial effect when these adhesives are used as an adjuvant in the management of UCF. Here we describe the results of management of UCF using 2-octyl cyanoacrylate (OCA) compared with surgical repair.

METHODS

A randomized clinical trial conducted from January 2008 to December 2012 included 42 children with UCF complications after urethroplasty for hypospadias. Twenty-one children were assigned to receive OCA as ambulatory patients and 21 were treated surgically. The main outcome variable was closure of the UCF. The estimated costs of both treatments were also calculated, as were absolute risk reduction (ARR), relative risk reduction (RRR) and number needed to treat (NNT) to prevent a surgical intervention.

RESULTS

The mean numbers of UCF were 1.3 in the OCA group (n = 28) and 1.1 in the surgical group (n = 25) with no statistically significant difference. The external orifices measured were 2.96 ± 1.0 mm and 3.8 ± 0.89 mm, respectively (NS). Sixty per cent of the UCFs treated with cyanoacrylate were completely closed and 68% of the surgical group healed completely (NS). More than one reoperation to improve complications was needed in the surgical group (3.5 ± 1.2). The clinical significance of the therapeutic usefulness of OCA was demonstrated by an ARR of 0.08, RRR of 0.25 and NNT of 12 to avoid further surgical treatment. The total costs of adhesive applications and reoperations were $US 14,809.00 and $US 158,538.50, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The results showed a similar success rate for both treatments. However, sealant use should be considered before surgical treatment because this is a simple outpatient procedure with a reasonable success rate.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02115191. Date: April 13, 2014.

Unfavourable results in hypospadias

Hypospadias urethroplasty is considered difficult as the complications and unfavourable results are not uncommon. At the turn of the century, due to a better understanding of applied anatomy of hypospadias, new techniques were developed which significantly brought down the complication rate. However unfavourable results are still disturbing. An algorithm for selection of surgery has been presented. Forty three secondary surgeries were performed over 3 years for correction of unfavourable results. The urethrocutaneous fistula was the most common (21%) followed by meatal stenosis (14%) and narrow neourethra (14%). Common unfavourable results have been discussed. On the basis of experience with a large number of hypospadias urethroplasty 'tips to avoid or minimise unfavourable results' have been presented. However, one should assess the final outcome of urethroplasty using hypospadias objective scoring evaluation.

Factors associated with delayed pediatric hypospadias surgery in Taiwan: a population-based, nationwide analysis

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

Current guidelines recommend that hypospadias repair should be performed before age 18 months. This study aims to investigate the trends of surgical timing and to determine what factors are associated with age at surgery.

METHODS

The present study utilized a subset of the National Health Insurance Research Database, known as Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2005, which contains the data of all paid medical benefit claims over the period from 1997 to 2007 for a subset of one million beneficiaries randomly drawn from the population of 22.72 million individuals in NHI program during any part of calendar year 2005. We analyzed claims data for all subjects with the diagnoses of hypospadias.

RESULTS

Among 52,705 live male newborns, 218 were diagnosed with hypospadias and thus were included as subjects in our study. Among them, 89 received repair surgery. Approximately 60.6% of the study subjects received repair after the age of 18 months. Multivariate analysis showed that several factors were significantly associated with age at hypospadias surgery: specialty of clinics where first diagnosis was made; specialty of physician making the first diagnosis, age of physician making the first diagnosis; specialty of surgeon performing the surgery; number of years since surgeon's board certification; urbanization level of subject's residence; modality of surgery; concomitant cryptorchidism; concomitant prematurity and low birth weight; age at diagnosis; and number of well-baby clinic visits.

CONCLUSION

This study addresses an important issue of delayed hypospadias surgery in Taiwan, which provides a potential opportunity for improvement in quality of care.

Surgical technique for antegrade dissection of the preputial vascular pedicle during hypospadias repair

OBJECTIVE

Both layers of the prepuce can be used as vascularized flaps in hypospadias repair. The aim of this communication is to describe an antegrade approach to the harvesting of the vascular pedicle.

SURGICAL TECHNIQUE

The vascular pedicle is isolated at the level of the penopubic junction where it is most robust. Dissection then proceeds distally towards the prepuce fanning laterally.

RESULTS

Of 306 boys presenting for hypospadias repair in 2002-2008, this approach was utilized in 235 (77%). The vascularized flap was used as 1) a classic single or double faced onlay flap in 95, 2) a vascularized layer to cover a tubularized incised plate urethroplasty in 68, 3) a tube-onlay in 39, 4) a tubularized urethroplasty in 23, 5) for ventral skin coverage alone in 7, and 6) for a planned first stage repair in 3. Age at repair averaged 12 months (range 2-160) and follow up 36 months (range 2-68).

CONCLUSIONS

Antegrade dissection of the vascular pedicle is a simple, expeditious and reliable way of isolating the prepuce on its blood supply. The versatility of the resulting flaps allows the repair to be adapted to the individual anatomic conditions as opposed to one type of repair being used for all variants.

General considerations in hypospadias surgery

Nonsystemic review of the literature was done for timing of surgery, preoperative evaluation and plan, anesthesia, suture materials, magnification, tissue handling, stent and diversion problems, intra and postoperative care, dressing, and follow-up protocol. The best time for hypospadias repair is between 6 and 18 months. Preoperative evaluation in proximal hypospadias includes hormonal and radiological examination for intersex disorders, as well as for upper tract anomalies along with routine evaluation. General anesthesia is a rule but local blocks help in reducing the postoperative pain. Magnification, gentle tissue handling, use of microsurgical instruments, and appropriate-sized stent for adequate period help in improving the results. Hormonal stimulation is useful to improve growth and vascularity of urethral plate and decrease the severity of chordee in poorly developed urethral plate with severe curvature. Urethral plate preservation urethroplasty with spongioplasty is the procedure of choice in both proximal and distal hypospadias. Algorithms are proposed for management of hypospadias both with curvature and without curvature. Two-stage urethroplasty has its own indications. A good surgical outcome may be achieved following basic surgical principles of microsurgery, fine suture materials, choosing one or two-stage repair as appropriate, proper age of surgery, and with good postoperative care. Future of hypospadiology is bright with up coming newer modalities like laser shouldering, robotics, and tissue engineering.

Single-stage dorsal inlay full-thickness genital skin grafts for hypospadias reoperations: extended follow up

PURPOSE

To report our extended experience with single-stage genital skin graft urethroplasty for complex hypospadias reoperations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Thirty-one patients with failed hypospadias surgery were included. The urethral plate had been removed or was scarred in all. After excision of fibrotic tissue a free full-thickness skin graft was quilted to the corpora cavernosa. The neourethra was then tubularized followed by glanuloplasty. Voiding cystograms, urethral ultrasound and flow measurements were performed in all. Outcome was considered a failure when postoperative instrumentation was needed.

RESULTS

Follow up was 78.45 +/- 18.18 months. Shaft skin was used in 13 and internal prepuce in 18. Average graft length was 3.66 +/-1.56cm. Eighteen patients required glanuloplasty. Initial graft healing was successful in all. There was no postoperative infection involving the inlay. We did not note complications from the graft donor sites. Four patients underwent redo surgery yielding a complication rate of 12.9%. Urethral stricture of the proximal anastomosis was most frequent.

CONCLUSIONS

This single-stage approach using dorsal inlay skin grafts is reliable, creating a substitute urethral plate in the long term. Complication rates are equivalent to those of staged strategies. This is a safe option for hypospadias reoperations if the urethral plate is compromised.

Single stage dorsal inlay buccal mucosal graft with tubularized incised urethral plate technique for hypospadias reoperations

AIM

To report the experience with single stage dorsal inlay buccal mucosal grafts using the Snodgrass technique for complex redo cases.

METHODS

From May 2004 to December 2005, a total of 53 patients aged from 3 to 34 years old (average 11.62 +/- 7.18 years) with failed previous hypospadias surgery were included in the present study. Indications included urethral strictures and repair breakdown. The unhealthy urethra was unroofed from the meatus in the ventral midline, a buccal mucosal graft was inlayed between the incised urethral plate and fixed to the corpora cavernosa. The neourethra was tubularized, and covered with subcutaneous (dartos) tissue and penile skin. Glanuloplasty was also performed in all cases. Outcome analysis included clinical follow-up, and endoscopy in 2 selected cases.

RESULTS

The buccal mucosal graft was 3.0-7.5 cm in length and 0.7-2.0 cm in width. All patients required glanuloplasty, with buccal mucosal grafts extended to the tip of the glans. After a follow-up of 14-30 months (mean 22.6 months), the total complication rate was 15.1%, with five cases of fistula and three cases of stricture.

CONCLUSION

Inlaying dorsal buccal mucosal grafts applying the Snodgrass technique is a reliable method for creating a substitute urethral plate for tubularization. The recurrent rate of urethral stricture and fistula is at an acceptable level for redo cases. This approach represents an effective, simple and safe option for reoperations.

Interim outcome of the single stage dorsal inlay skin graft for complex hypospadias reoperations

PURPOSE

Despite high success rates for primary hypospadias repair, some cases require multiple procedures for ultimate reconstruction. We report our experience with single stage dorsal inlay urethroplasty using skin grafts for complex reoperations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 31 patients (mean age 13.8 years) with failed previous hypospadias surgery were included in the study. Indications included fistulas, strictures, diverticula and repair breakdown. The urethral plate had been removed or was severely scarred in all patients. A free penile or groin skin graft was sutured and quilted to the corpora cavernosa, guaranteeing sufficient blood supply. The neourethra was tubularized and covered with a tunica vaginalis or dartos flap, followed by glanuloplasty. Outcome analysis included urethrograms, urethral ultrasound and flow measurements.

RESULTS

Foreskin was used in 15 cases, penile skin in 12 and inguinal skin in 4. Average graft length was 3.92 cm. A total of 20 patients required glanuloplasty with a skin graft extended to the tip of the glans. After a mean followup of 30.71 months 5 patients underwent redo surgery, for a complication rate of 16.1%. Urethral stricture of the proximal anastomosis was the most frequent finding.

CONCLUSIONS

This single stage approach using dorsal skin grafts is a reliable method to create a substitute urethral plate for tubularization. Complication rates are equivalent to those of staged procedures. Foreskin should be used as a graft donor site to optimize the outcome if available. This approach represents a safe option for reoperations even if the urethral plate or midline penile skin is grossly scarred.