Biblioteca Virtual en Salud

Objective:

To explore the clinical features and treatment strategy of congenital anterior urethrocutaneous fistula.

Methods:

A total of 7 cases with congenital anterior urethrocutaneous fistula were repaired by surgery between January 2006 and February 2019 in Affiliated Children’s Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University. The median age was 30 (18-92) months. All of cases had a intact prepucs and a normal external urethal meatus located at the tip of glans. Fistula located at subcoronal culus in 2 cases, midshaft in 3 cases, penioscrotal region in 1 case, scrotum in 1 case, respectively.Defect longitudinal diameter was 0.5-1.5cm. Associated anomalies including division of scrotum in 3 cases, penile chordee in 2 cases, urethral meatus stenosis in 1 case, right hydrocele in 1 case. Six cases had underwent one-stage fistula repair incluing Duplay procedure in 4 cases(case 1, 2, 4 and 6), Onlay preputial flap in 1 case(case 3), TIP repair with dorsal plication for straightening and urethrotomy in 1 case(case 5). Case 7 had underwent a two-stage repair, which received Duckett flap repair with urethrostomy simultaneously at the base of the penis, and the defect was closed in second procedure. All of neourethras were reinforced by soft tissues from different places.

Results:

Of 6 cases with one-stage repair, the catheter was removed 10-14 days after surgery in 5 cases. Removal of the catheter was delayed until 3 weeks in case 3 because of poor wound healing. Case 7 received Duckett flap repair with urethrostomy in the initial surgery, who recovered uneventfully and was resolved during the second operation. No recurrence, urethral stricture or chordee occurence were noted in all after a 1-8 years followup period.

Conclusions:

Congenital anterior urethrocutaneous fistula have a high overall success rate.Duplay could be applied to cases without penile curvature, and well-developed urethral plate. Onlay or TIP is more suitable for cases with narrow urethral plate. The principle of hypospadias repair should be followed for those cases with severe penile curvature.