Short-Term Outcomes of Tubularized Incised Plate Urethroplasty and Associated Factors Among Children with Hypospadias at a Zonal Level Hospital, Lake Zone – Tanzania

Abstract

Background: Hypospadias is an anatomical congenital abnormality characterized by an abnormal development of the urethra fold with a ventral malposition of the urethra opening. Tubularized Incised Plate Urethroplasty (TIPU) is among the repair techniques that are not short of complications. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study with a prospective component conducted in the Urology department from January 2023 to June 2023 with the aim to determine the short-term outcomes of Tubularized Incised Plate Urethroplasty and associated factors among children with hypospadias at Bugando Medical Centre. Children at the age of 4 months to 15 years of age were included in the study after TIPU. STATA version 15.0 was used for analysis as per the objectives of the study. With the use of the Chi-square test, a P-value of < 0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: 90 patients were included in the study with a median age of 2.25 years, the age of patients were grouped into two groups, <2 years and >2 years of age. After TIPU, patients were followed - up for 1 month. Glandular hypospadias was in 40 (44.44%) patients, coronal in 29 (32.22%), subcoronal in 15 (16.67%), distal penile in 4 (4.44%), and midshaft in 2 (2.22%) patients. While other factors did not show any association with the outcomes of interest, hypospadias sites were significantly associated with complications (P value = 0.029). Conclusion. TIPU is a simple and effective technique for hypospadias repair in children. This study has shown a significant association between interventional complications and site of malformation. With supplementary factors in question, the authors recommend other large multicenter studies to cover the facet of all practical attributes of different techniques currently in place.