Hypospadias: surgery and complications.

The aim of this review is to summarize the various steps of the surgical procedures to treat a hypospadias. Hundreds of procedures have been described but most of them follow the same principles. They include correction of a ventral curvature, the urethroplasty itself and penile skin reconstruction. Most of the affected children may be treated with a one-stage procedure. Each hypospadias surgeon has to know a variety of techniques and tailor the procedure used for each individual child. Complications are frequent after the hypospadias correction. Fistulas are the more frequent of these complications occurring in less than 5% of anterior cases, but up to 50% in posterior cases. Long-term follow-up is mandatory to evaluate the sexual outcome of the adults operated on during childhood for a posterior hypospadias, even if the available data seem reassuring. 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.