Augmentation of the urethral plate in the glans penis area and the distal urethra – effective method of fistula correction in children with hypospadias

Abstract

Background. Important causes of complications of hypospadias repair are the deficit of tissues for plastic surgery, grooveless and small size of glans, obliteration of the urethral platewith varying degrees of scarring. The coronal urethral fistula  is the most common complication of urethroplasty. Surgeons continue to search for reliable methods of correction of complications.Materials and methods. Between 2011 and 2019, 85 children aged 2 and 17 years presented with coronal fistula  of urethra after hypospadias repair. (TIP) Snodgrass – 78 (91.7 %) and Mathiue – 7 (8.2 %) procedures have been performed them earlier. In our clinic previously operated 28 (32 %) boys, primary surgery of the remaining 57 (67 %) was performed in other medical institutions.Results. All patients (85), conditionally, were divided into two groups. The first group included 39 children (45.8 %), with stitching a fistula, the second group consisted of 46 patients (54.1 %), with augmentation of the urethral plate of the glans and distal urethra with the implantation of a rectangular preputial or oral mucosa free graft. Recurrent urethral fistula after stitching was observed in 10 boys (25.6 %) of the first group, and only in 2 cases (4.3 %) in children with the augmentation of the urethral plate (p <0.05). The decrease of urine flow according to the data of uroflowmetry was observed  in 15 patients (52 %) the first group, the children of the second group did not have a decrease in the flow of urine.Discussion. The shape, size of the glans and the condition of the urethral plate affect to the result of urethroplasty. The connection of the wings of the glans in accordance with normal anatomy, avoid obstruction in the distal part of urethra. A wide urethra in the glans and meatal area improves urine flow. Conclusion. The augmentation of the urethral plate of the penile glans and the distal urethra with the implantation of a wide rectangular free flap in to the meatus, in our opinion, an advantage over the implantation of diamond-shaped grafts using the GTIP or TIP graft technique.