Hypospadias is a fairly common congenital defect of the urinary tract in male infants that affects the position of your urethral opening. Normally, urine exits through the tip of the penis. In hypospadias, your urethral opening may have been located at the underside of your penis head, further down the shaft, or (rarely) below the testicles.
Approximately one out of every 200 baby boys is born with hypospadias. Usually, it’s quickly and easily identified and surgically corrected. If it’s not corrected, boys may have problems such as:
Usually, baby boys receive surgery for hypospadias at 6-24 months of age. You may not even know that you had hypospadias as a baby unless your parent tells you or if you checked your medical record.
But now you’re a man and wonder how this condition affects you today. Are their lingering effects from the abnormality itself? Or does the surgery alter your function and fertility?
Alex Lesani, MD, is an expert urologist in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you worry that you suffer the after-effects of hypospadias as an adult, he will conduct a thorough examination and may recommend treatment.
Does your childhood hypospadias affect you now? Here’s what this condition might mean for you as an adult.
Boys who are born with hypospadias may have been exposed to substances during gestation that affected the way hormones triggered the development of their urethra and their foreskin. You may have hypospadias if your mother was exposed to:
One of the risk factors for hypospadias is having a mother over the age of 35 when you’re born. This factor is probably linked to the downward shift in hormones that take place in women at that age.
Because a dysfunction of hormones seems to cause most cases of hypospadias, you may suffer from other abnormalities, including those affected by hormones. Some conditions associated with hypospadias include:
Some of these complications suggest that the abnormalities in hormones, such as testosterone, persist past childhood.
Most of the time, the first surgery for hypospadias repairs the defects, such as misplaced urethral opening and curved penis. You should have been able to urinate normally as a child without pain or spraying.
As an adolescent and as a man, a successful repair means that you ejaculate normally through your penile head. However, the hormonal influences that caused the condition may impair your fertility.
In addition, if you had more than one surgery as a baby or boy, you may have scar tissue that prevents you from fully ejaculating semen and sperm. Dr. Lesani may order imaging studies to determine if scar tissue is involved in fertility challenges you and your partner may be having.
If you have scar tissue, if your hypospadias was imperfectly repaired, or if you still have penile choree (downward curve), you may need corrective surgery. Dr. Lesani may recommend you for urinary tract reconstruction.
Whenever possible, Dr. Lesani reconstructs your urinary tract with minimally invasive robotic surgery that uses small incisions. The benefits of robotic surgery include less trauma, less pain, and less bleeding.
Are you worried about the aftereffects of hypospadias or corrective surgeries? Call our team at 702-470-2579 or book your appointment online today for an evaluation and possible urinary tract reconstruction.
