My 1 year old boy was born with Hypospadias and is due to go for an operation the beginning of next month. I am however concerned as I have been reading on several web sites about this condition. Although most have been positive towards surgery there was one in particular that said I would be making my child more prone to infections by having the op. It said that surgery should not be performed in babies. Obviously I am really worried as if it wasn’t enough worrying about the op.

A Thank you for your question. I can understand your worries because every anesthetic and operation carries a risk. However the vast majority of people who have surgery have successful outcomes. Many babies of all ages have surgery, sometimes it is an emergency but most of the time it is planned particularly if the surgery is not urgent. Operations for Hypospadias are usually carried out between one and two years of age. The reason for this is that it is thought that the emotional upset is less at this age than when it is carried out later. The post operative complications are bleeding and infection and antibiotics are sometimes prescribed and you will be given instructions on the care of the wound and hygiene following the operation. The difficulty with infection in this particular operation is because the baby is not toilet trained but with careful hygiene hopefully it can be avoided.

health visitor

back to faq's - Medical