No Margin for Error: A Surgeon's Struggle Repairing Hypospadias Paperback – December 1, 2023

I just finished reading "No Margin for Error." Wow -- What a remarkable journey and remarkable story! Witty and gripping and full of his personal experiences, it read like a novel.I learned a great deal about hypospadias, surgery, surgical ethics, the business of medicine, medical bureaucracies and the challenges of change in the medical world. Dr. Snodgrass has a flair for dramatic touches and writing dialogue. I laughed out loud at several parts, such as when he describes a steak-house business meeting with a hospital CEO who "smiled like a politician." I've encountered the same type lol.The book brought one flashback after another of our meetings with Dr. Snodgrass for our son's 2 STAG hypospadias repair surgeries in 2014.Although choosing Dr. Snodgrass for the surgery was an easy decision, after reading this book I thanked our lucky stars we didn't go to another surgeon -- our son probably would have received a complications-prone flap repair for his 45 degree chordee proximal hypospadias instead of STAG with Drs. Snodgrass and Bush. In the 10 years since the surgery our son has had not one problem ever, plus his penis looks great! My wife and I are so relieved."No Margin for Error" showcases Dr. Snodgrass's relentless drive to collect data, measure outcomes, question himself and improve his surgical techniques continually -- TIP to STAG to STAC. He chronicles his Don Quixote-like quest to proselytize his learnings and encourage other surgeons to measure, track and improve. He's made a huge difference in the lives of thousands of boys around the world, including our son.After finishing the chapter on Operation Happenis -- his charity supporting hypospadias awareness and learnings -- I logged on and made a donation. It's important work, and we'd like to support it.My wife and I will be forever grateful to Drs. Snodgrass and Bush for the outstanding "reconstructive" (not cosmetic!) repair of our son's hypospadias so he has a normal-looking, functional penis.

This book is just enjoyable. Grandma liked it. We were all surprised by the “entertainment” value, as well as its helpfulness in understanding the condition of hypospadias and its current struggle with proper treatment.I think this book speaks to the issues that academia and medicine are riddled with. What one would consider fertile ground, and safe havens, for progress and research, can be combative, petty, and battlegrounds over just plain ol “stupid” matters. This is all at the expense of the patient; patients who are little boys and infants, who deserve so much better care for their common condition (depending on the severity).No parent wants to have fly across the country, or the world, for the hope of a decent surgical outcome, but many must.For the sake of brevity, I’ll just say that I learned so much from this book. Not only has it improved my understanding of my son’s condition, but it also made me want to be an advocate for it as well. I appreciate the good fight Dr. Snodgrass and Bush have put up. May they “rock on”.I hope other surgeons will get on board so that parents no longer have to hear that there is a 50-60% chance their child will have complications following surgery (if they’re even informed).Read it, Mom and Dad. You’ll feel empowered by the knowledge.

I have researched until my eyes are bloodshot, and I wish I hadve just started with this exact book. It is so refreshing to read in detail how his mind works and how much he and Dr Bush care about making boys born with this condition lead normal lives. The book was so good, I was reading it at work and it gave me the courage to talk about my son’s issues to people that I had never talked about it to before. Highly recommend.

Excellent read for a parent of a hypospadias kid. So glad I took the time to read it!

PARENTS of boys with hypospadias and SURGEONS who perform repairs must read Dr Snodgrass’ candid, compelling, evidence-based narrative of his relentless quest to do better. To not settle for poor outcomes. To keep returning to the data, scrutinizing techniques — helping countless boys and their families through his own practice and through sharing his experience so other surgeons’ patients can benefit.As a participant in one of his AUA conferences commented in 2010: “If every pediatric urologist chose just one topic and then studied it as methodically as you do, we would have the answers to most of the problems we see in no time.”PARENTS, take heart. SURGEONS, be inspired. To do better is what boys and their families deserve, and what can elevate the spirit and resolve of their physicians.

As a parent and physician, I loved reading this book. I feel fortunate to have Dr Snodgrass as my son’s surgeon, even more so now having read all that he had gone through while working to provide high quality care. It was an easy and highly enjoyable read! I fully recommend this book without reservation!

While reading Dr. Snodgrass’s book, I was flooded with so many memories and feelings as Dr Snodgrass and Dr Bush performed the surgeries he described in the book on my son. One of the feelings I felt the most was gratitude towards them for never giving up even through they were having to advocate several times to the same people. Another feeling I felt while reading the book was unity with other parents out there! We’re not alone in this. Dr Snodgrass’s book has the ability to unite the hypospadias community even more than he already has.

For anyone in the Hypospadias world, I highly recommend reading this!!! Dr Snodgrass is the leader in this field and his expertise is astounding!!!I love how this book only helps bring more awareness to this condition, that many won’t even talk about! :)