Meatoplasty - Treatment And Procedure

: Admin : 2021-11-11

The urinary system formed of kidney, ureters, bladder and urethra, function in a synchronized manner to drain the waste products as urine through an opening in the penis in males called as urinary meatus or external urethral orifice. When this orifice is become small due to circumcision—a surgical procedure to remove the foreskin of the penis of an infant boy or from hypospadias – a birth defect in a male child where the urethral opening is not on the tip of the penis, it is termed as meatal stenosis. This condition is seen in about 10% of male children.

Mentoplasty is a surgery performed on the end of a child's penis which is surgically opened to a normal hole and the edges are later stitched to allow streaming, effortless flow or drainage of urine from the urethra.

Meatal stenosis blocks the normal flow of urine. It causes pain during urination, very thin upwards or sidewards spraying of urine stream and frequent desire to urinate from residual urine left in the bladder from incomplete evacuation. It needs medical attention as it develops urinary tract infections and diseases of the kidney if the condition is neglected by being careless in its treatment approach. A health care professional diagnoses the medical condition by physical and visual examination of the child.

Once the pathology is observed by the surgeon, he advises for mentoplasty after urine analysis or tests urine samples to detect any signs of urinary tract infection.

Mentoplasty is done prior to injecting general anaesthesia into the child. Once the child is asleep from the strong action of anaesthesia, a urologist passes a small tube into the meatus to measure the size of the hole. Then he makes a small cut to enlarge the opening to a normal size for easy flow of urine. Later the surrounding edges are stitched. An antibiotic ointment is applied on the tip to prevent infection of the penis. An antibiotic, paracetamol and a warm bath are usually prescribed by the physician during the recovery phase. A child may resume his routine activities within a few hours post-surgery.