Dorsal shortening vs. ventral lengthening for congenital ventral curvature in patients with/without severe hypospadias A meta-analysis of comparative studies.

Introduction: Herein, we compared surgical outcome of dorsal shortening (DS) vs. ventral lengthening (VL) for correcting congenital ventral curvatures.

Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in September 2021 using the PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, CENTRAL, ProQuest, and Clinicaltrials.gov databases. Comparative studies were identified and evaluated according to Cochrane Collaboration recommendations. Assessed outcomes included success and complication rates, which were extrapolated for the respective odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup analyses were performed according to congenital curvature, with or without severe hypospadias or recurrent curvatures (PROSPERO: CRD42021276193).

Results: Based on pooled effect estimates from 12 studies with 430 (DS 253, VL 177) cases of ventral curvature repair, VL rendered a better success rate for curvature correction (OR 4.20, 95% CI 2.11, 8.33) than DS, with comparable composite surgical complication rates (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.27, 2.18). Subgroup analysis showed that the success rate remained significantly better for VL among patients with associated severe hypospadias (OR 3.59, 95% CI 1.25, 10.26) and recurrent penile curvatures (OR 5.70, 95% CI 1.69, 19.21) but not among those with congenital curvature without hypospadias or those with mild hypospadias (OR 2.99, 95% CI 0.32, 27.57).

Conclusions: For congenital curvature associated with severe hypospadias and recurrent curvatures, VL renders a modestly better success rate; however, careful selection of patients is key for best outcome.