MEN HEALTH

Chordee

Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis And Treatment

Chordee is an unusual development on the tip of the penis. In this condition, a man’s penis either curves upwards or downwards instead of staying in its usual position. Sadly, at least 1 in 200 such cases are seen when a male baby is born.

Apart from this there can be another complication where the urinary opening is formed under the penis. This condition is known as hypospadias. Further, take a look at the places where hypospadias occurs

Middle of the penis

A little under the tip of the penis

At the testicles

The place between the scrotum and anus

Usually, doctor’s notice this in the beginning when a baby boy is born and further recommend an operation if needed.

Causes of Chordee

main cause for chordee yet. For now, its been understood that this unusual situation arises due to developmental complications when the baby boy is in the womb and that’s why the penis is not straight but curved.

Apart from this, there could be other related development issues such as tethering of the skin under the penis and the formation of scar tissues around the urinary tube.

Doctors even say that a baby might suffer with chordee if a circumcision operation is done.

According to researchers, initially during the 10th week of pregnancy, the penis is still developing and at that time it is curved. However, after the 27th week, shape of the penis changes and the fetus doesn’t have chordee by then. In a few cases, there are complications.

When a baby is suffering from chordee, the urinary opening is quite small and not developed. This is why, the opening is either under or at the tip of the penis.

Symptoms of Chordee

Here are some of the symptoms of chordee, read through them!

No 1 – The penis is either an upward or downward sharp curve. It starts near the testicles and continues till the glans.

No 2 – The urine flow is haphazard if you have chordee with hypospadias. It is in rare cases that it happens not always.

No 3 – The midline raphe is supposed to go along the shaft and instead it goes around the penis tissue.

No 4 – A layer of skin near the tip of the urinary tube is delicate, it is known as skin tethering and this is one of the symptoms of chordee.

No 5 – The foreskin doesn’t wrap the penis correctly; it only wraps half of the penis from above.

No 6 – A layer of webbed skin forms in between the bottom of the penis and at the skin of the scrotum.

No 7 – If the symptom of chordee is not severe, it

shows its effects in puberty when a man experiences an erection for the first time.

No 8 – At times when a person has sex for the first time and experiences some kind of discomfort, there could be a problem in shape of the penis. Usually a boy or man will not know if they have chordee if the chordee doesn’t arise with hypospadias.

No 9 – A few men suffering with chordee might not have enough erections.

How Chordee Is Diagnosed?

Since chordee could be a defect in babyhood, the doctor would look at the penis and check if there is a problem in the initial stage. Take a look at how the

A doctor examines the penis by applying a saline solution. What they see here is to what extent does the penis get curved. If they notice the penis getting curved more than 30 degrees upwards or downwards, the doctor would recommend a surgery

Treatment for Chordee

It is recommended that the best time to have the surgery is when the child is between 4-6 months. This way it is easy to correct the chordee and the penis will grow back to normal.

After surgery, the patient is likely to have a swelling and it is covered with a dressing to reduce the swelling. For the first seven days after surgery, usually the doctor suggests that a child use catheter instead of urinating. This surgery is usually done during childhood. Even later on, during puberty or adulthood, this surgery is done and in a few cases one operation is not enough, more than one operation is needed to set right things.

A doctor will always keep you informed about the advantages of doing this surgery. Further, he will give you details about when to stop medicines for the child.

Here is what doctor’s do during the surgery. Take a look!

No 1 – Anesthesia is given to the child/patient so that he is asleep when the surgery is going on.

No 2 – The doctor removes extra tissues if that’s the reason for the penis to bend.

No 3 – From a curve, the doctor’s aim at making the penis straight by making use of the tissue on all sides.

No 4 – The urinary opening is extended upto the tip of the penis.

No 5 – Openings or cuts are stitched correctly.

If the child has hypospadias with chordee, during treatment, the doctor will do the following things. Take a look!

At the new penis tissue, the urinary opening will be moved.

Hole of the previous urinary opening is kept closed.

Openings and cuts get stitched.

If a baby had circumcision and then chordee formed, then the doctor will do Z-plasty and treat scars.

Things To Know After Chordee Is Treated

After surgery, the urethra takes a while to heal. So, doctors place a catheter into the child’s bladder for at least 7 days. Then the child can be taken home to rest after the surgery.

After surgery, mentioned below are some of the points you must be aware of. Take a look!

No 1: Give the child the right medication for the pain to subside after surgery.

No 2: Do a clean dressing on your wound and if the wound falls, change the dressing as and when required.

No 3: To keep away from irritation or rashes, ensure to apply ointments prescribed by the surgeon.

No 4: Don’t be worried about the swelling. After surgery, it is normal to have it.

When To Be Aware After The Surgery?

might experience a few health complications. Thus, it is necessary that you call a doctor if the following things happen. Take a look!

No 1 – Whenever you notice the stitches opening.

No 2 – If pain, swelling and redness persists for a long time after surgery.

No 3 – If the penis is infected.

No 4 – When the child suffers with high fever of more than 101-degree F.

No 5 – If urinating gets difficult or when the child is not able to urinate at all.

No 6 – If an adult has undergone this surgery, the patient is supposed to keep away from having sex until the doctor checks to see if the penis is fine or not. Usually, it takes about 8 weeks to recover after the surgery. Even then, it is always good to take your doctor’s advice instead of risking your health.

Conclusion

In most cases, chordee and hypospadias surgery turns out a success. Especially in the case of children it is even more successful and after this surgery the child doesn’t face any difficulty in urinating and the penis begins to straighten.

It is not necessary that every child suffering with chordee will need to undergo an operation. The doctor will examine and then give a confirmation on whether to go for the surgery or not.