Historical aspects of hypospadias--a literature review.

There is an ongoing search for solutions to many troublesome issues concerning surgical treatment of hypospadias such as what age is the most appropriate to apply surgery, or in how many stages surgery should be performed; what method, technique or modification to use in the surgical treatment of a specific type of hypospadias, whether there is an algorithm to use in choosing the most appropriate technique so that post-surgery complications could be reduced to minimum, or whether it is possible to follow up the early and late results of surgery. Knowing how treatment of hypospadias evolved from ancient times to present days can really help us find answers to some of these questions. Looking retrospectively into the past would enable us to follow the progress of the treatment of this anomaly by studying and analyzing the work of the famous surgeons from the past that left their mark in history. Beginning from the ancient times and passing through the Middle Ages and the revolutionary 19th century we come to the modern scientists who have described their clinical experience, methods and techniques and contributed considerably to the development of science. Many of the modern surgeons claim their ideas to be original but the investigation of historical documents and scientific works shows that all current techniques, theoretical and practical knowledge had been described ages before. It is quite apt here to quote Durham Smith on that: "There is nothing new in surgery not previously described".