What exactly is hypospadias? (Friend's son may have it)

[Katielady]

A friend of mine gave birth recently and the midwife said her son had hypospadias and that she should get it looked at by a urologist. But from what she described, the baby has a short foreskin that doesn't cover the glans, but the urethra is in a normal position. Isn't hypospadias a malpositioning of the urethra? Is it somehow related to having a shorter foreskin? Is surgery needed in either case? I'm hoping to pass some info on to her and figure you all would have better, more targeted info than google. Thanks!

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

Hypo can be as simple as a malformed foreskin only with normal urethral opening or it can be so severe as to have the urethral opening all the way at the scrotum.

In your friends ds's case it sounds like it is purely cosmetic and he wont need anything done at all. I have heard the condition he has as being born with circumcised. Which of course isnt the case at all but it gives the same impression since some or even all the glans can be totally exposed with it.

[Katielady]

will she need to clean and vaseline the glans with a q-tip (or whatever the routine is, not totally sure) as you would for a circed baby? it looks like poop could get in there.

[Super~Single~Mama]

Originally Posted by Katielady 

will she need to clean and vaseline the glans with a q-tip (or whatever the routine is, not totally sure) as you would for a circed baby? it looks like poop could get in there.

I only have one ds, and he's intact - so I know NOTHING about circ'd baby's.  However, I have changed one baby's dipe (after his circ healed), and there was no qtip or vaseline involved.  Could be b/c I was just babysitting, but I thought that vaseline was only needed during the healing period?  Since your friends babe was born that way, he doesn't have to heal, so I wouldn't think anything special would need to be done?

Of course, if there is poop on his penis it needs to be wiped off, but I wouldn't think there would be an issue otherwise.

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

No she wont have to do extra cleaning. Odds are that what foreskin there is will be fused to the glans as it would have been normally if it isnt then simply swishing in the bath will be good enough to keep it clean.

The thing about retracting is that because the foreskin didnt form right if she where to retract to clean it could very well get stuck behind the glans and cause paraphimosis so she would be better off not retracting at all IMO.

Of course I cant see him and know how much foreskin or if it is retractable or not. But the rule even with retractable boys is to leave it alone.

[Katielady]

Makes sense. And I imagine it would be more similar to cleaning a girl's parts, which I do have experience with- if any poop gets into a nook or cranny you gently wipe it out. (Intact boys are so much easier to clean than girls!) Anwyay I'll pass this along, as I'm concerned any urologist will jump right to telling her to circ.

[Mittsy]

Hypospadias is the urethra being in the wrong place on the head of the penis. Dorsal hood is the malformation of the foreskin. I believe it's about 50% of the time dorsal hood and hypospadias can go hand in hand, and that sounds like it's the case with your friend's son. There's another condition which can also go hand in hand with hypospadias, and possibly dorsal hood, and that's chordee which is the curvature of the penis. Corrective surgery will have to be determined by a Pediatric Urologist, depending on how severe the case is. I would recommend asking the Ped. Urologist(or finding one) who can restore the foreskin.

[MyBoysBlue]

This is one of my favorite links on Hypospadias from an anti circ point of view.

http://www.drmomma.org/2010/04/hypospadias-surgery-and-circumcision.html