When a male child passes urine not from the tip of his penis, but from an orifice which is located on the lower (ventral) side, it is called hypospadias. It is a congenital defect. This requires surgical correction. The ideal time of correction is at about 1 year of age unless there is meatal stenosis and he has real difficulty in passing urine.

The correction of this deformity can be a one-stage or multistage procedure. That depends on the level of the defect. Hypospadias can be vey distal (glanular, coronal, distal penile), or intermediate ( mid penile) or very severe (proximal penile, penoscrotal, scrotal). Usually associated with this defect the child has an overhanging prepucial skin on the dorsal aspect and a ventral bowing of the penis(chordee).

The results are very good, cosmetically as well as functionally. We can expect a normal sexual life of these kids when they grow up. But there can be a few complications, too. Upto 4% cases may have an opening through which urine may pass in a narrower stream along with the main passage (urethrocutaneous fistula). Many of the cases complicated with urethrocutaneous fistula get corrected with time and a few need a small secondary correction. There can be wound infection, stenosis of the neomeatus, and post-operative hemorrhage. These complications are very few in number but must be known when the parents give a consent for urethroplsty of their children.