To tell or not: parental thoughts on disclosure of urologic surgery to their child

PURPOSE Literature pertaining to surgical disclosure to the pediatric patient is lacking. We hypothesized parents would find it difficult to disclose urologic surgery to a child. MATERIALS AND METHODS Parents of patients <5 years old undergoing urologic surgery were contacted for telephone survey. Parents were asked about future plans of surgical disclosure, comfort with disclosure, and any support received. RESULTS 98 parents consented to study participation. 87% of surgeries were on the genitalia with 62% being minor genitalia surgery (i.e. circumcision). 70% of parents would tell their child about minor genital surgery while 84% would tell about major genital surgery (p=0.07). 4 of 20 parents of children undergoing hypospadias repair (major genital surgery) did not plan to tell their child about surgery. All parents of children undergoing non-genital surgery would tell. Of all parents planning to tell their children about surgery, only 14% were nervous. 34% of parents would find guidance in talking to their child helpful despite the majority (90%) stating no guidance had ever been provided. CONCLUSIONS Parents seem comfortable discussing urologic surgeries with a child but about 1/3 would appreciate further counseling. 20% of parents of children undergoing hypospadias repair hope to avoid telling their child.