Mitchell's technique for epispadias repair: Our preliminary experience

Aim: We present here experience of a single surgeon with Mitchell′s procedure for correction of epispadias.
Materials and Methods: Nine boys (mean age 5½ years, range 9 months to 16 years) underwent Mitchell′s repair in Department of Pediatric Surgery over a period of 5½ (September 1999 to March 2005) for correction of epispadias. Six of these patients had come for the second stage of exstrophy-epispadias repair after primary bladder closure; the other three had incontinent penopubic epispadias.
Results: The penis was cosmetically acceptable as regards to size, glans shape and peno-pubic angle in all the patients. However, there was a high incidence of penopubic fistula (44%). These patients with penopubic fistula also required postoperative urethral dilatations, at times repeated. One of the common factors to these subset patients was their younger age when Mitchell′s urethroplasty was performed.
Limitations: The series is descriptive in nature, short in numbers and does not provide statistical comparison of Mitchell′s procedure with the previously done procedures.
Conclusions: Mitchell′s complete penile disassembly technique for epispadias repair is more acceptable anatomical procedure that results in near-pendulous penis. However, when performed at young age, it is fraught with the complication of penopubic fistula similar to that as seen with Cantwell-Ransley′s procedure. Mitchell′s procedure creates a hypospadiac meatus initially and the meatal advancement is required as for any other distal penile/coronal hypospadias.