Urethral mobilization and advancement for midshaft to distal hypospadias.

PURPOSE: A urethral mobilization and advancement technique for repairing glanular, subglanular and midshaft hypospadias with or without chordee was developed, and has been used for more than 6 years. A brief description of the procedure and the results are presented.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 1995 to 2001, 73 boys 4 months to 12 years old underwent repair of glanular (14), subglanular (38) and midshaft (20) hypospadias. Chordee was present in 37 boys. Upon initiating the surgery, a circumcising incision was made proximal to the urethral orifice. The ventral glanular mucosa was preserved. The penile skin was degloved and any chordee was corrected. The meatus was circumscribed and the urethra was mobilized proximally until a 4 to 5:1 ratio was achieved between the length of the mobilized urethra and the initial distance measured from the meatus to the distal margin of the glanular groove. The ventral glans was incised deeply to the corpora cavernosa and the glans wings were mobilized laterally. The urethral meatus was advanced and sutured to the distal glans. The glans wings were approximated over the urethra. The glanular mucosal wings were approximated ventrally, and the skin was resected and closed in the usual fashion. A urethral catheter was left overnight.

RESULTS: Followup ranged from 6 months to more than 6 years. None of the patients had a urethrocutaneous fistula or meatal stenosis. There were no episodes of new, persistent or recurrent chordee. Two patients had meatal retraction wherein the urethra migrated proximally but still within the glans. Only 1 of these patients required a second procedure. One patient had a hematoma that resolved spontaneously.

CONCLUSIONS: The hypospadias technique described, which uses wide urethral and glanular mobilization and advancement, can be useful for repair of midshaft to distal hypospadias with or without chordee with minimal complications and excellent cosmetic results.