Dr. A.K.Singal, Author at Hypospadias Foundation

April 04 2015

Chennai to Navi Mumbai: A Doctor’s tale of Hypospadias Repair Surgery for her son

As doctors we are blessed to earn both money and gratitude from our patients. This is even better for us Pediatric urologists as we can experience deep happiness of the parents when their little one gets better after a surgery. We personally feel that we are a part of their life now as we were the lucky one’s to be there when they were struggling to get their little one through a difficult time such as surgery. God has given such unique position to doctors caring for kids as they can then see kids growing up year by year and feel blessed to have invested their life into building up a healthy and safe future.

The diagnosis of hypospadias in a newborn baby can cause a lot of anxiety, distress and pain to the mother who has just delivered, the husband who hasn’t slept in days and the family which has keenly waited for 9 months. At this time in first few days of life, if a proper counseling and guidance can be given by an expert, it can make a world of difference. This may not be possible all of the times as surgeons caring for children with hypospadias on a very dedicated basis are far and few in between across India. Most of the pediatric urologists and surgeons are adept in diagnosing, understanding and counseling for hypospadias and hence should be called in neonatal age itself.

One year back, I received a call from neonatal nursery to see a newborn baby born with hypospadias. Both mom and dad were doctors and worked in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. Mother was delivering in a Navi Mumbai hospital as the maternal side family lived in Vashi. During the visit, I could see the anxiety and concern writ large on her face. She was torn between playing her role as a mother and her knowledge as a doctor. I discussed with her in detail about the type of hypospadias and also the corrective surgery needed. Since it was a midpenile hypospadias, I told them that a single stage urethroplasty repair was possible. We discussed at length about the right age for surgery and anesthesia. The baby and mother were discharged from nursery at 3 days and then I saw them again at 1 month of age, By this time, the mom was mentally tough and ready for the surgery. We planned the surgery at 6 months of age.

The family travelled from Chennai to Navi Mumbai at 6 months of age with a preplanned date for surgery. Since the urethra was hypoplastic for a short distance proximally and the urethral plate was not very good, we did an onlay island flap repair. The surgery was completed in 2 hours and A.J. was discharged the next morning. The hypospadias dressing was removed on day 5 and the urinary catheter was removed on day 10 after surgery. A.J. healed well over next 2 weeks and the family visited me again 6 months after surgery. A.J. is passing urine from tip of penis, the penis is straight and there is an excellent cosmetic result of his hypospadias surgery. The family is overjoyed and I am also relieved and happy with the good outcome.

The mother sent us a nice thank you note last week and it made my day. It follows verbatim here:

Hello Dr. Arbinder Singal,
A happy parent with a blessed son.
First I would like to convey my heartily thankfulness for your key role in my life. I would rather tell it as my life because my son is my life.
October 2012, good news was accompanied with sad news too, when my pediatrician told me that my son is suffering from hypospadias. Even though I am also a doctor, a fearful alarm rang inside a mother with loads and loads of questions.
But to my rescue doctor, your opinion was asked. During your visit, you were polite and calmly answered all my questions and relieved my fears.
As I am from Chennai and my parents stay in Chennai, everything fell in place very conveniently.
After 6 months, the day for hypospadias surgery came, as doctors, my husband and I were ready mentally but emotionally it was a nightmare.
But thank you doctor, MITR doctors and staffs- All made us feel very comfortable. You were so supportive and took care of everything right from the beginning.

That day gave a new life to my son. Now he is doing fine and leading a happy and normal life.

Six months have passed and everything is well.

Thank you God
Thank you doctor
Thank you MITR Hospital and staff
Thank you Hypospadias foundation
May your sincere service continue forever for the needy.
God bless you
Yours
A happy parent with a blessed son

Footnote:

These are the letters and emails which make caring for kids worthwhile even in the face of all risks and uncertainties of surgery on a small child. In the dark times, these blessings shine like rays of hope and give energy to carry on. I wish to express gratitude to all parents who have trusted us with the care of their little ones. We feel truly blessed and honoured to be of help.

About the author:

Dr A.K.Singal is a Pediatric Urologist and a specialist hypospadias surgeon. He does more than 200 hypospadias repair surgeries every year and has the best results for complicated and failed hypospadias. Every year he gets referred complex, severe and failed hypospadias patients from all over India and more than 20 countries. Along with the team at Hypospadias Foundation and MITR Hospitals, he feels joy and blessings in caring for children with hypospadias.

You can send us an enquiry by filling up this form: http://hypospadiasfoundation.com/contact-patient.htm

Or you can send us an email at hypospadiasfoundationindia@gmail.com

Or you can call Dr Rajkumar, Coordinator of Hypospadias Foundation, at +91-9821261448 between 10am-4pm

Also, you can call up Dr Rajkumar, Dr Singal’s assistant and Coordinator of Hypospadias Foundation on +91-9821261448

Videos of Hypospadias Repair surgery by Dr A.K.Singal

April 04 2015

Successful result in a failed hypospadias repair: Boy from Gandhinagar (Gujarat) visits Hypospadias Foundation for a follow-up 5 years after surgery

Hypospadias remains the most common urological abnormality affecting more than 1 lakh kids in India alone (based on incidence of 1/150 in newborn boys). Leaving aside very minor hypospadias without chordee- almost 70-80% of these require hypospadias treatment in form of repair surgery in early childhood.

For a child with Hypospadias, the first surgery is always the best surgery but still there can be complications and failure even in expert hands though complications are much less if operated by a surgeon or a centre where there is a focused practice in treating children with hypospadias. Literature and experts suggest that if a hypospadias surgeon is doing more than 50 hypospadias repairs in a year, then his results will be better and more predictable as compared to a general pediatric surgeon or a urologist who does only 10-20 hypospadias repairs in a year. Once a hypospadias surgery fails, then the next surgeries become more difficult and result more unpredictable. The failure rate of hypospadias surgeries vary from 5% to 50% depending on the type and severity of hypospadias in general centres and less than 10% in centres where hypospadias surgeries are done by expert hypospadias surgeons on a day to day basis.

Case details

Master A.P. was born with a distal penile hypospadias and underwent first surgery in Ahmedabad at the age of 6 years. Unfortunately, the surgery failed and he started passing urine from the same place on the underside of penis- a fistula. The new urinary passage through the head of the penis got tight and closed off. The surgeon tried to open it many times by catheter insertion but it failed. Coupled with failed hypospadias, the child also had an unsatisfactory cosmetic appearance in form of bunching of skin on underside of penis. With this situation they contacted Dr A.K.Singal, Pediatric urologist and expert Hypospadias surgeon at Hypospadias foundation in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai when the boy was ten years of age. After examining and confirming that the whole urinary pipe will have to be remade from distal penile region to the tip of penis (glans), Dr Singal advised a Onlay island flap repair for which the flap would be raised from the nearby bunched up skin. This repair is technically challenging because of previous failed hypospadias surgery but this was the only chance for the boy to have a single stage repair. The surgery for failed hypospadias was finished in 2 hours and A.P. was ready for discharge the next day but since they had travelled all the way from Gujarat, they decided to stay for 7-8 days in Navi Mumbai. The catheter was removed on day7 and he passed urine well from the tip. For the first one month after surgery, there were some chances of new opening getting tight, hence we taught the boy to insert a small catheter just 1cm into the new opening with an antibiotic ointment. The penis healed well in next 3 months and he has remained free of all symptoms now for last 5 years. At 15 years of age and after his 10^th standard exams, A.P visited us and had a big smile on his face. He is looking forward to higher education and he shared with us his dreams and further education goals. We plan to see him again one last time at 18 years of age. His penis growth and his functional & cosmetic outcome has been excellent so far.

Dr A.K.Singal with the patient

Letter of thanks from the father:

Dear Dr Singal,

My son A.P was operated first at Ahmedabad. The hypospadias problem was not solved and it actually worsened and we were very tense my son’s future life. While searching through internet I came to know about you and your colleague doctors.

From your past surgeries and mastery about Hypospadia surgeries we decided and contacted you before surgery. At Mitr hospital, from the first meeting with you, we were confident about our son’s second Hypospadias surgery and we decided to do it only with you.

At Mitr Hospital, we experienced very good pre and after surgery treatment from Doctors and staff also, very good and polite staff. At Gujarat we don’t have such experienced and professional hospital staff. I think this is also very important besides doctors. I feel that if the doctors are not confident they must not try and go ahead for these type of surgeries because once it is fails, the situation of patient and his family is unbearable. It creates psychological problems also and these can be very stressful to handle. Thanks to your team, my son is doing well now.

Regards

M.P., Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

About Failed Hypospadias repair:

When the hypospadias surgery fails, it is a moment of distress and lot of anguish for the parents. Even the doctors feel terrible because they know that even a hypospadias surgery which has been done well doesn’t mean that everything will heal also well. There are many variable factors which affect healing and hence, complications of hypospadias surgery happen sometimes even in best of hypospadias surgeon’s hands. The only difference being that when an expert hypospadias surgeon does the surgery, the chances of complications decreases drastically. And even if the complications happen, they can be managed well without any panic or long lasting impact.

The complications which may need second surgery are: urethral fistula, tight urethra (stenosis or urethral stricture), residual curvature (chordee), dehiscence (complete breakdown or partial breakdown), diverticulum, penile torsion or an unsatisfactory cosmetic outcome. Once it is ascertained that a second surgery is indeed needed for hypospadias, it is important to wait for 5-6 months before planning the next surgery.

About Dr A.K.Singal

Dr A.K.Singal is a well known Pediatric Urologist and one of the best hypospadias surgeons in India. Every year under his care in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, more than 150 children undergo hypospadias treatment. More than 50 of these are children who have failed hypospadias surgery done elsewhere. With his deep understanding and experience, Dr Singal and his team are able to offer care and cure to these children. He can be contacted at hypospadiasfoundationindia@gmail.com or you can call his Assistant Doctor – Dr Rajkumar at 98212161448 if you wish to take a second opinion for a failed hypospadias surgery. Else you can fill up this contact form:

Contact Dr A.K.Singal

March 03 2015

Hypospadias repair surgery in adults: Man from Nepal gets successful treatment at Hypospadias Foundation, Navi mumbai, India

Hypospadias is the most common urological birth defect occurring in upto 1/150 newborn boys, which measures upto almost 100,000 (1 Lakh) new cases every year. While most of the cases are not hereditary or genetic, 6-8% of hypospadias cases have family history of hypospadias or associated genetic disorders. In the current era and in cities, most of these children are referred to pediatric urologists or surgeons in early childhood and receive timely treatment for hypospadias. This was not true 20 years back or even now in many parts of the world. Hence, there are a large number of adults living with hypospadias across the world either unrepaired or some who have failed hypospadias surgery in childhood. In India alone, there are an estimated 5 lakh adults who have either not received hypospadias surgery or have failed hypospadias surgery in their earlier years and their families or they themselves have given up.

Every year, we receive adults from many countries in South East Asia and rest of the world who travel to India to Hypospadias Foundation to find treatment for their Hypospadias problem. Recently, a young man travelled from Nepal for hypospadias treatment. We would like to share the story.

Reaching Hypospadias Foundation:

Mr N.S. was born with hypospadias and was diagnosed soon after birth. Due to lack of knowledge and pediatric urology/ hypospadias specialists in Nepal, his parents could not get him treated for hypospadias in childhood. He grew up to be a smart boy and completed his graduation and got employed with an infrastructure company in Nepal. But somewhere at the back of his mind he had this nagging doubt about treatment of his hypospadias issue. He kept on searching whether he can get treatment with good results for hypospadias at the age of 23 years but no one gave him a satisfactory answer. Finally he contacted Hypospadias Foundation at Navi Mumbai, India- a team of hypospadias surgeons led by Dr A.K.Singal and Dr Manish Dubey. He sent his medical records by email and also some pictures. After an electronic opinion, he finally travelled to Navi Mumbai in September 2014.

Examination:

Mr N.S. was examined by Dr A.K.Singal, Pediatric urologist and expert Hypospadias surgeon in Hypospadias Clinic at Hypospadias Foundation, Navi Mumbai, India. He was found to have distal penile hypospadias with mild chordee. No previous surgery had been done. The midline raphe of the penis was misaligned to one side causing a slight bend in the penis also to one side called penile torsion. N.S. was counselled for surgery as well post-op recovery and underwent distal penile hypospadias repair surgery (urethroplasty) the next day.

Hypospadias Repair surgery:

Since it was a case of primary hypospadias and there was no previous surgery done, the urethral plate was still preserved well. We planned to do a single stage TIP repair (Tubularised Incised plate urethroplasty or Snodgrass repair). The new urinary tube (urethra) was made over 12 Fr silicon catheter and covered with two additional layers for secure healing and prevent fistula. First layer was with corpus spongiosum called spongioplasty and second was with dartos from foreskin on the top of penis. Finally excess foreskin on top was excised imparting a circumcised look to the penis. N.S. was discharged the day after surgery on antibiotics, analgesics (painkillers), antacids and antispasmodics. Additionally a medicine was given to decrease erections temporarily. One week later, we removed the dressing in clinic and finally the catheter was removed on day 10. N.S. had some pain initially on passing urine but within 2-3 days he was passing urine normally from the tip of penis. There was an issue with delayed healing of skin on underside of his penis which finally healed completely in 2 months. He has been passing urine normally and came to see us at 6 months follow-up after surgery this week (18^th March 2015) and was extremely happy with the result of hypospadias repair surgery. He has healed well with a single stage surgery and does not require any further surgery. He is planning to start seeing girls now and get married soon. We have given him a clearance to go ahead with marriage and send him our best wishes from Hypospadias Foundation.

Dr A.K.Singal with adult hypospadias patient from Nepal after a successful outcome

Hypospadias repair surgery in adults:

Longer healing time than children: Though the overall success rates of hypospadias surgery in adults remain good and comparable to hypospadias surgery in children, the healing takes longer. It may take upto 2-3 months for the penis skin to heal fully though one can start passing urine normally in 2-3 weeks.
Longer time for indwelling catheter: We like to keep catheter inside for 10-14 days for distal hypospadias repair in adults and 14-21 days for severe hypospadias repair in adults. This is in to children where most of the catheters are removed in 5-10 days.
Higher risk of infections: Since there is hair growth in penile area and more sweating in adults, the chances of skin infections at hypospadias surgery site is little higher in adults.
Pain after surgery: As adults have night time erections during a certain phase of the sleep, there may be episodes of severe pain during healing phase in first one month. Hence we give medicines to decrease the frequency of erections for 4-6 weeks and stronger pain killers.
Abstinence from sex: We advise abstinence from sex and masturbation for almost 3 months after hypospadias surgery in adults.
Off from work: Since most of the adults are in a job or business, it is important to take atleast 4 weeks off from work before planning hypospadias surgery.
Uroflowmetery: We recommend performing a test called uroflowmetry to check the speed of urine passage at 3 months and one year of surgery to make sure that the new passage is of good caliber.

Conclusion

Though there are challenges in treating adults with hypospadias, but with diligence and dedication very good results can be achieved at Centres of Excellence in Hypospadias Treatment. A good counselling, a thorough OPD consultation are a must before embarking on the surgery to ensure that the adults with hypospadias understand the treatment, results and long term outcomes. This also helps in setting the expectations right after Adult Hypospadias surgery.

About Hypospadias Foundation

Hypospadias foundation is the World’s first and only organisation dedicated to care of children and adults suffering from Hypospadias. Founded by Dr A.K.Singal and Dr Manish Dubey in Nov 2008, more than 700 children and adults have found hope and cure at Navi Mumbai India. Kids and adults travel from all over India and now more than 20 countries to Navi Mumbai for state of art treatment, surgery for hypospadias and best results. The unique teamwork between a pediatric and adult urologist allows adults with hypospadias to gain the best results in treatment of hypospadias. Hypospadias Foundation can be contacted at hypospadiasfoundationindia@gmail.com or +91-22-22743558/ 4229 Oor Dr Rajkumar, Coordinator for Foundation can be contacted at +91-9821261448 between 9am- 5 pm India time.

Or you can fill up this enquiry form: Enquiry Form

Contact Form for Hypospadias Foundation

Please fill all clinical details and upload pictures and clinical summaries (if available)

March 03 2015

In search for a cure for Hypospadias: From Lucknow to Navi Mumbai, India

Hypospadias remains the most common urological anomaly in boys and more than 1 lakh kids are born in India every year with Hypospadias. Majority of these are mild variety like glanular, coronal, distal penile or midpenile hypospadias. Less than 15% of all hypospadias are moderate to severe variety of hypospadias like proximal penile, penoscrotal or scrotal hypospadias. While very mild hypospadias like glanular or coronal without chordee may be left alone without surgery, all other types of hypospadias or those with chordee require hypospadias correction treatment.

There are more than 100 different types of hypospadias surgery techniques described in medical literature attesting to the fact that none of the techniques are perfect or suitable for all types of hypospadias. The hypospadias specialist surgeon needs to be well acquainted with anatomy and various techniques to decide the type of surgery needed in a particular hypospadias case. Subtle variations in anatomy decide the type of technique needed. Hence the decision for each hypospadias is very individualized.

The common techniques in use for primary hypospadias are TIP urethroplasty (Snodgrass repair), Mathieu repair, Onlay Island flap urethroplasty, Prepucial tube and staged Bracka’s urethroplasty. Each technique of hypospadias surgery has its own advantages and disadvantages and case selection becomes very important.

Case: Boy from Lucknow

Master A.C. was born with proximal penile hypospadias in Lucknow. He was advised surgery after one year of age by the doctors in Lucknow. They consulted various surgeons in Lucknow and Delhi but were not satisfied by the approach. Finally, the boy’s uncle who was a scientist in CSIR sent an email to Hypospadias Foundation with all records and pictures asking for an opinion. We advised a clinical examination and a single stage surgery. The family flew to Mumbai and saw us in MITR Hospital, Kharghar where Hypospadias Foundation is located. The penis size for Master A.C. was very small with a stretched penile length of 2 cm and Glans diameter of 11mm. We advised two injections of Testosterone (male hormone) to induce growth of penis at one month interval. After one month of second injection, the glans size increased to 15.5 mm and penis length to 29mm. At this time, we planned a hypospadias correction surgery. A.C. was admitted the morning of surgery and a single stage urethroplasty was done using Onlay Island Flap technique for which Dr Singal is very renowned. The surgery took 90 minutes and the boy was discharged the next morning after hypospadias surgery. The dressing was removed after 5 days and catheter was removed after 10 days. A.C. passed urine well and at one month follow-up was passing urine in a good stream without any issues. The penis has healed very well with an excellent cosmetic result. The parents were overjoyed and sent an email of thanks after one month from Lucknow. Further follow-ups will be via email and phone calls. Patients from across the globe follow-up with us using electronic medium such as email, whats app and skype.

Dr Singal with Family from Lucknow

Testosterone (hormone) injection before Hypospadias surgery

In some cases of hypospadias the penile size may be small and the head of penis (glans) may be very tiny. In such cases it is difficult to repair the hypospadias adequately. We advise testosterone injections in dose of 25mg intramuscular injections two months and one month before surgery. The testosterone injections help in two ways: Increasing the size of penis and glans; secondly the blood supply (vascularity) of the foreskin increases which helps in making a good flap in severe hypospadias. Two doses of testosterone injections do not have any short term or long term side effects on body growth etc. Part of the effect of testosterone on penile growth is reversible but part increase in size of penis is permanent. For us at Hypospadias foundation, we give Testosterone injections for babies where the penis size is less than 25mm or the glans diameter is less than 13-14mm.

Onlay Island flap urethroplasty

Onlay island flap urethroplasty is a type of hypospadias repair surgery where a flap is made from foreskin on the top of penis (dorsal prepuce) and brought on underside of penis. This flap is based on a robust blood supply from dartos tissue of the foreskin (see the video below). Onlay island flap urethroplasty is reserved for severe hypospadias or where the TIP repair is not suitable and the chordee is not very severe. In hands of expert hypospadias surgeons, Onlay Island flap urethroplasty offers best results in repair of severe hypospadias. Dr A.K.Singal is one of the best hypospadias surgeon specialists in India for such surgeries. Dr Singal has been invited at various national and international conferences to showcase his surgical technique (see video below). Every year more than 200 children and adults with primary or failed hypospadias are operated under his team’s care in Navi Mumbai, India.

If your child has a hypospadias and you wish to get in touch with Dr Singal for treatment, you can fill up the contact form below or you can see him at one of his hypospadias clinics in Navi Mumbai or Mumbai. You can also call up Dr Rajkumar, Co-ordinator for Hypospadias Foundation at +91-9821261448 between 9am-6pm to discuss any queries.

Dr Singal’s clinics and Timings

Contact form for Dr Singal & Hypospadias Foundation

See Video of Proximal penile hypospadias repair using Onlay Island flap technique- by Dr A.K.Singal

See Scrotal Hypospadias repair using Onlay Island flap urethroplasty- by Dr A.K.Singal

Contact Form for Hypospadias Foundation

Please fill all clinical details and upload pictures and clinical summaries (if available)

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Contact Form for Hypospadias Foundation

Contact Form for Hypospadias Foundation