On the basis of our experience, major pediatric surgery in many under-resourced areas of sub-Saharan Africa can be developed, taking care to adapt surgical options to local conditions. Late referral of many congenital abnormalities, the impact of local culture, difficulties to establish regular follow-up, and shortage of facilities and medical devices must always be kept in mind before transferring modern protocols of management. Strong efforts have been devoted to train local medical and nursing staff to establish pediatric surgical manpower to cope with a still largely unanswered demand of care in this area of Africa.

Hypospadias surgery is one of the most difficult areas in pediatric urology and has been characterized by constant evolution. Some of the surgical techniques proposed in the past are now considered inadequate because of an unacceptable complication rate or poor functional and aesthetic results. The key for assessing a surgical technique (or a particular aspect of it) is continuous evaluation through long-term patient follow-up. We present the medical records of 693 patients over 10 years, all operated on by the same surgeon (the first author), with a minimum of 12 months of follow-up. The overall complication rate was 6.49% (45 cases). The most frequent complication was urethral fistula, occurring in 28 patients (62%). Other complications were redo for penile deformity or meatal retraction (eight cases, 17%), megalourethra (five cases, 11%), meatal stenosis (two cases, 4%), and urethral stenosis (two cases, 4%). We have noticed an increased rate of complications in patients older than 12 months (18.7% vs. 3.4% in patients younger than 12 months) and in patients operated on at puberty or later (15%). We have seen no difference in the complication rate related to the type of hospitalisation (day surgery vs. traditional hospitalisation). Regarding the relationship between the type of complication and the type of defect, except for the constant presence of fistulae, a high incidence of megalourethra was seen in proximal defects treated with preputial graft. The sexual outcomes of 32 subjects are presented. Multiple factors influence the final result, but the most important factor is the surgeon's own experience. Knowledge of different techniques and delicate tissue handling are essential. Our experience shows that the ideal age for surgery is 8-12 months. Owing to a minimal emotional impact on the child and to a reasonable use of economical resources, we consider day surgery the ideal way to treat these patients whenever possible. Even in the absence of complications, follow-up must be continued at least until the end of puberty and, when possible, up to the patient's sexual debut. Adequate interviews with the patients (principally teenagers and young adults) are the best way to evaluate their need for psychological support.

Percutaneous sclero-embolization is a minimally invasive treatment of varicocele that is feasible in children and adolescents. Most patients prefer this therapy, although it is not as safe as surgery. When open surgery is required, complete ligation of the whole vascular pedicle above the vas deferens offers excellent success.

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