Congenital Urethral Malformations in Children: Contemporary Management Strategies and Advances in Reconstructive Surgery

Congenital urethral malformations represent a diverse and clinically significant spectrum of anomalies encountered in pediatric urology. Among them, hypospadias remains one of the most common congenital conditions requiring surgical correction, while epispadias, urethral diverticula, urethral valves, and rare anomalies such as urethral duplication or multiplicity pose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges due to their low incidence and anatomical variability. Despite progress in reconstructive techniques, perioperative care, and long-term outcome assessment, the management of these conditions continues to evolve, with ongoing debate regarding optimal approaches, timing of surgery, standardization of outcome measures, and follow-up strategies.

Recent years have seen important advancements in classification systems, prenatal and postnatal imaging, surgical materials, and operative techniques, including refinements in tubularized plate urethroplasty, staged reconstructions, and minimally invasive or hybrid approaches. Simultaneously, the global increase in awareness of functional and cosmetic outcomes, patient-reported measures, and the psychosocial dimensions of genital surgery highlights the need for a more comprehensive and evidence-based framework for evaluating success. For rare urethral anomalies, including urethral duplication, the limited number of cases and heterogeneity of presentations underscore the importance of collaborative research, standardized reporting, and shared clinical experience.

This Research Topic aims to gather high-quality contributions that advance the understanding, diagnosis, and management of congenital urethral malformations in the pediatric population. We seek to highlight innovations in reconstructive surgery, contemporary management strategies, and multidisciplinary approaches that improve both short-term and long-term outcomes for affected children.

To gather further insights on congenital urethral malformations, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Epidemiology, embryology, and classification of congenital urethral anomalies
• Advances in the diagnosis of urethral malformations, including multimodal imaging and endoscopy
• Hypospadias repair techniques, innovations, and comparative outcome analyses
• Management of complex or failed hypospadias repairs; grafts, flaps, and staged approaches
• Epispadias reconstruction and functional outcomes
• Rare urethral anomalies (e.g., urethral duplication, triplication, associated malformations): case series, multicenter collaborations, novel insights
• Long-term evaluation: continence, voiding dynamics, sexual function, fertility considerations, and quality of life
• Standardization of outcome measures and reporting frameworks
• Psychosocial, ethical, and multidisciplinary perspectives in pediatric genital surgery
• Transitional care and follow-up into adolescence and adulthood

We welcome original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, clinical studies, surgical technique papers, case studies, and expert perspectives. By integrating contributions from surgeons, urologists, radiologists, pediatricians, geneticists, psychologists, and allied specialists, this Research Topic aims to create a comprehensive and up-to-date resource that will support clinical decision-making and foster high-quality, collaborative research in this rapidly evolving field.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: hypospadias, epispadias, urethral diverticula, urethral valves, urethral duplication, urethral multiplicity

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.