Congenial Birth Defects In Children - Know How They Can Be Managed!

Congenial Birth Defects In Children - Know How They Can Be Managed! Congenital birth defects include: 

• Hypospadias: The opening of the urethra is located on the underside of the penis instead of the tip. 
• Anorectal Malformations: The anus (which is the opening in your bottom through which stool passes through) and the rectum (which is the part of bowel immediately above the anus) have not developed properly. This occurs when the child is in the womb. 

Hypospadias is a developmental anomaly characterized by a urethral meatus that opens onto the ventral surface of the penis, proximal to the end of the glans. The meatus may be located anywhere along the shaft of the penis from the glans to the perineum. 

Hypospadias is classified based on the position of urethral opening i.e. glanular, coronal, penile, penoscrotal and scrotal. Here the urine is deviated downwards towards the legs as the penis is bent downwards. Because of downward curvature of penis, sexual activity becomes difficult. From 6 months onwards hypospadias can be corrected by operation i.e. urethroplasty, where the opening of urethra is brought to the tip of the penis and the penis is straightened. 

Anorectal Malformation : Here either there is no anal opening or it opens in a wrong place i.e. in urinary passage or birth canal in girls. It may be high anomaly or low anomaly. The immediate treatment is to make a stoma on the surface of abdomen and then do definitive pull through operation i.e. anorectoplasty when the baby is around 8 to 12 months old.