Foreskin healing after distal hypospadias repair: Does stenting affect the outcome?

Distal penile hypospadias account for about 70% of all cases of hypospadias. There is a variety of operative techniques that could be performed when foreskin reconstruction is an option. The urethral stent is left in the urethra to prevent complications.

To determine whether the duration of stenting influences the healing of foreskin after distal hypospadias repair.

Data from 2 institutions was retrospectively analyzed. Inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) a modified meatal advancement glanuloplasty without tubularization of the urethral plate, 2) foreskin reconstruction and 3) follow-up - 12 months. All other types of reconstruction and re-do procedures were excluded. The period of urethral stenting was determined intraoperatively depending on the surgeon's preferences. Mean age at operation was 23.3 months. The cohort was divided into 3 groups. In Group I (G-I), no catheter was left or it was removed the next day after surgery. In Group II, the catheter was left for more than 5 days. In those 2 groups, the surgery was done by different surgeons. Group III consisted of 35 patients who had a stent for <2 days, and the procedure was performed by the same surgeon. The χ2 with Yates's correction and Pearson's χ2 tests were used for the statistical analysis.

Overall, 11 patients had foreskin dehiscence and needed re-do surgery. None of the patients required operation because of foreskin stenosis. Complications occurred in 3 out of 33 patients (9%) in Group I, 2 out of 27 in Group II (7.4%) and 6 out of 35 in Group III (17%). There was no statistically significant difference between Groups I and II (p = 0.8144), nor between Groups I and III (p = 0.5344). In the non-parametric Pearson's χ2 test, no significant difference was found in such grouped data (p = 0.4239).

Prolonged urethral stenting does not reduce the risk of a re-do foreskin surgery after hypospadias repair.