The Snodgrass repair: is stenting always necessary?

To evaluate the need for stenting in Snodgrass hypospadias repairs. Sixty-five boys underwent hypospadias repairs between April 1996 and July 2001. A variety of techniques were employed. Snodgrass repair was performed in 39 patients, MAGPI in 18, Glanular approximation procedures in 4, Mathieu procedures in 3 and one Duckett Onlay-flap. Seventeen patients, all Snodgrass repairs, had placement of a urethral stent for one week postoperatively. Follow-up at six weeks and one year or when toilet-trained was carried out on all patients. A Fisher's exact test was performed analysing the difference in outcome of the distal Snodgrass repairs depending on the presence or absence of a urethral stent. The patient age at the time of surgery ranged from 8-115 months, with a median of 21 months. Postoperative complications included 1 stent migration, 1 urethral diverticulum and 4 fistulas. Also in one patient part of the ventral skin flap on one side sloughed away, this was debrided and allowed to close by secondary intention. The fistula rate in the entire group is 6%, with an incidence of 10.5% in patients undergoing Snodgrass repair. In the cases having Snodgrass repair for meatal position other than mid- or proximal shaft there was no statistical difference in the incidence of fistula whether or not a stent was used. The long-term follow-up of the entire group indicates that 5 patients developed meatal narrowing, 3 in stented Snodgrass repairs, one patient who had a MAGPI and one GAP patient. Otherwise the long-term outcome of the surgery has been excellent for the entire group. We believe that stenting can be abandoned in distal repairs without compromising patient outcomes.