FREQUENCY OF URETHROCUTANEOUS FISTULA FOLLOWING SNODGRASS HYPOSPADIAS REPAIR IN CHILDREN

Objective: To determine the frequency of urethrocutaneous fistula over a period of three months following snodgrass hypospadias repair for the treatment of distal penile hypospadias in children. Methodology: This descriptive study was conducted in the paediatric surgery unit, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar over a period of eight months from June 2009 to Febraury 2010. Patients with distal penile hypospadia without chordee between 2 and 14 years were included and patients were excluded who had previous repair for hypospadias. All those patients fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria whose parents gave informed consent after explanation of the whole protocol were admitted through outpatient department for the said procedure and data was analyzed. Results: A total of 52 patients were included in the study. All patients were in the range of 2 to 10 years and underwent Snodgrass Tubularized Incised Plate (TIP) urethroplasty for hypospadias repair. The overall rate of urethrocutaneous fistula was 9 .6% (5 out of 52 patients). Mean operative time noted in minutes was 57.52 minutes. No major morbidity or mortality was noted in this study.Conclusion: TIP urethroplasty is simple, single stage operation in the management of hypospadias and has good functional and low complication rate