Snodgrass procedure for distal penile and mid-shaft hypospadias repair in children

Introduction. Hypospadias is one of the most frequent penile malformations in newborn boys. Warren Snodgrass developed the «tubularized incised plate» (TIP) urethroplasty that is the most often procedure used in the surgical treatment of distal hypospadias for the last 20 years. Despite the great popularity of the technique, its no less famous Grafted TIP (GTIP) modification appeared. The technique is aimed at filling the defect in the urethral site with a foreskin free flap followed by tubularized urethroplasty.Purpose of the study. To compare the outcomes of TIP and GTIP procedures in our clinic which have been performed in the last 10 years.Materials and methods. One hundred-fourteen boys with hypospadias (aged 6 mo – 15 years) were operated on using the TIP technique and its modification GTIP during 2010 – 2020 (Sochi Center of Motherhood and Childhood Protection). The patients were: boys up to 1 year – 27 (23.7%), from 1 to 3 years – 57 (50%), 4 – 7 years – 19 (16.7%), from 8 to 14 years – 14 (12.3%). Primary repair was done in 112 cases (98.2%), the second procedure was done in 2 (1.8%) cases. There were 94 (82.5%) boys with distal hypospadias and 20 (17.5%) children with mid-shaft hypospadias. All patients were examined 3 and 12 months after surgery. We assessed the degree of skin scar process on the penile shaft, the location of the meatus and the quality of urination during the examination.Results. We observed 27 (23.7%) complications after urethroplasty out of 114 treated boys. There were 13 (11.4%) cases of urethral fistula, which were secondary repaired 6 months later. Meatal stenosis was observed in 2 (1.8%) cases, which required secondary meatoplasty. Repeat urethroplasty was done in 10 (8.7%) cases due to neourethral suture failure. There were also 2 (1.8%) cases of secondary penile curvature that required repeat surgery. The good cosmetical and functional results were achieved finally in all children.Conclusion. The analysis of our ten-year experience of using TIP-urethroplasty and its GTIP modification did not reveal significant differences in the overall incidence of postoperative complications. Yet, using the TIP procedure is associated with more fistulas. There were more cases of urethral suture failure in children whom the GTIP technique was performed. Our data suggest the need for a selective approach in the formation of indications for using TIP and GTIP procedures, along with research aimed at finding criteria for patient selection.