Recent advances in hypospadias

Hypospadias is an abnormality of anterior urethral and penile development in which the urethral opening is ectopically located on the ventral part of the penis proximal to the tip of the glans penis, which, in this, is splayed open. The earliest medical text describing hypospadias dates back to the second century CE and was the work of Galen, the first to use the term. During the first millennium, the primary treatment for hypospadias was amputation of the penis distal to the meatus. Since that time, many have contributed to development of modern hypospadias repair. More than 300 different types of repairs have been described in the medical literature. Although most reports have been in the past 60 years, most basic techniques were described over a century ago. Modern anesthetic techniques, fine instrumentation, sutures, dressing materials, and antibiotics have improved clinical outcomes and have, in most cases, allowed surgical treatment with a single-stage repair within the first year of life on an outpatient basis.