Any urologists on here?

[PonderLand]

Could do with finding out about a surgical procedure. I've tried finding info about it online and I can't find anything related to it.

Hey, I work in urology. I may be able to help?

Hi @Lolalove12 thankyou for responding.

My son had his hypospadias and severe chordee operated on before the summer. They used a skin flap technique (not sure which one but it's a snodgrass technique), unfortunately the skin flap didn't work and went necrotic then infected. No one is quite sure why it happened, it's a rare complication and I've struggled to find any first hand experience of it online from parents or men. My son has a blood sugar disorder which means he gets regular low sugars, the surgeon 'thinks' this could be why the flap didn't work. However the doctor who my son is under for the hypoglycaemia doesn't agree that low sugars can effect healing.

Now my son is booked in for another surgery and the surgeon told me they'd use 'd-cell' human tissue to build his urethra tube rather than taking a skin graft from him which I believe is the usual practice.

I've googled and it appears that d-cell is a brand name that supplies the NHS and it's used as a scaffold. My question I suppose is why are they using this tissue? It seems to be quite an uncommon thing to use for a repair like this and again the only information I can find on it's use is in research papers published online which make no sense to me. The surgeon told me it's a 90% chance of success which again is confusing because I can't find those statistics online and they told me the same statistics for my sons first surgery. He also told me it'd take 1 hour, which he told me last time and it actually took close to 4 hours. He never explained the delay or what caused it. He told me it all went well and as expected.

I'm thinking about getting a second opinion privately but only for a consultation, however I don't want to offend the surgeon or cause any issues between us when my son is in his care. When he booked my son in for the second surgery it was a very quick appointment and he didn't try and explain the surgery as thoroughly as I wanted. Which I can understand as it's a complicated subject but I need to know so I can do my own research about it. If he believes sugars caused issues last time then why didn't he bring that up before surgery as a potential complication. He knew about the sugar condition. Sorry that's so long!

Hello, I’m so sorry but I won’t be able to help. I am an adult urology nurse and have very little experience in paediatric urology. The surgery that you’re describing is a very specialised surgery that we don’t even perform in our trust.
However, if you are unsure of the procedure and its success as you have seen little research surrounding it then I think that having a second opinion is never a bad thing. Alternatively you could try discussing it with the consultant that has proposed it to be sure he knows all your sons medical history and gives you a full explanation again.
Sorry that I cannot be of any more assistance. I hope your son gets sorted soon

@Lolalove12 no worries, thankyou anyway for offering your knowledge. I don't feel that the surgeon will be able to answer all my questions. It's really hard to keep 100% trust in him after the complications and lack of aftercare. We saw 4 urologists (which was over 18 hours of waiting for them in day surgery unit and a&e) before they identified the complications, they kept telling us it was a normal recovery. My son was in a lot of pain for a week and nothing we offered from otc helped. He is the best urologist that works at the hospital and we can't afford the surgery privately.

Would a private urologist be okay with us just looking for their thoughts on the surgery rather than us asking them to perform the surgery?

Im just sorry I couldn’t of been more help. You would be paying for the consultation and their knowledge so it is entirely up to you what you do once you have it. They understand that too.
Good luck!