Health Tips

Hypospadias is a male birth defect where the opening of the urinary tract is not located at the tip of the penis but opens part way up. Affecting approximately 1 in every 100 male births with varying degrees of severity, it is 20 per cent more likely to happen where another close family member has experienced the same defect.

Hypospadias is corrected surgically under a general anesthetic, the type of surgery depending on the severity of the condition. Because boys stand to urinate it is important that the urinary stream is easily controllable, lack of control due to hypospadias can lead to acute social embarrassment. This is one of the reasons that it is ideally treated in infancy, preferably between the ages of 8 to 18 months of age.

Another reason is that psychological trauma is minimized. Small children are usually good healers and the parents can be shown the wound care that will be required post operatively.

Sometimes a condition known as chordee, a bending of the penis on erection, may also be present, this can be corrected surgically during the operation for hypospadias. Recovery time depends on the severity of the problem and the complexity of the surgery. Mild cases can be treated on an out patient basis, sometimes in patient treatment may be required, especially where chordee presents in the same child or untreated adult.