The surgical treatment of an injury or defect within the urethra's walls is known as urethroplasty. The three most frequent factors leading to urethral damage that needs to be repaired are trauma, iatrogenic injury, and infections. The gold standard treatment for urethral strictures is urethroplasty, which has a lower recurrence rate than dilatations and urethrotomies. Although recurrence rates are higher for this challenging treatment group, it is likely the only effective treatment option for chronic and severe strictures.
Urethroplasty is not regarded as a small procedure, taking three to eight hours on average in the operating room. Between 20% and 30% of urethroplasty patients may benefit from the ease of going under the knife for a shorter period of time and going home the same day. On average, hospital stays last two to three days. Seven to ten days may be needed for hospitalization for more complicated surgeries.
Fewer than ten percent of patients experience significant complications after urethroplasty, while complications, particularly recurrences, are more frequent in long and complex strictures.
2. Objective
Principles
History
Definition
Diagnosis
Basic principle for urethroplasty
Current recommendation for urethroplasty
Practices
Which technique to choose
How BMG is applied in different technique
Medium term / long term success
What is the future
3. Epicurus, a Greek philosopher,
was known to commit suicide
when he could no longer dilate his
own stricture
4. History
Development of the Duplay-Denis Browne principle, buried, ventral
or dorsal, strip of oral mucosa becomes an epithelialized tube.
In 1980, Monseur fully applied Duplay’s principle and described the
first dorsal urethroplasty.
opening the dorsal urethral surface and fixing the opened urethra over the underlying corpora cavernosa, and
leaving a catheter in place for a long period
Devine and collaborators popularised the use of genital and extragenital
free skin grafts for urethral reconstruction
5. History
Barbagli
Combined Devine’s technique with Monseur’s and described a new technique
for dorsal onlay graft urethroplasty
6. History
First described at the end of the
19th century by the Russian
surgeon Kirill Sapezhko (1857–
1928)
He published his experience of
four cases of urethral stricture
disease treated in men using oral
mucosal grafts in the Russian
medical journal Chirurgicheskaya
letopis
Sapezhko KM. To the treatment of urethral defects using mucosa grafts [in Russian]. Chirurgicheskaya letopis 1894;4:775–84.
Vasiliyev KK. K.M. Sapezhko—the professor of Novorossiysk University
10. Modern History of Urethroplasty by Anatomical Segment
Anterior Urethra
Penile Urethroplasty
• 1953: Johanson staged urethral repair without grafting
• 1999: Hayes and Malone OMG dorsal inlay technique for hypospadias
• 2001: Asopa one-stage OMG dorsal inlay urethroplasty in adults
Bulbar Urethroplasty
• 1996: Barbagli dorsal onlay OMG bulbar urethroplasty
• 1996: Morey and McAninch harvest technique of OMG and OMG ventral onlay urethroplasty
• 1998: Webster augmented dorsal graft anastomosis
• 2006: Barbagli fibrin glue urethroplasty
• 2008: Barbagli bulbospongiosus muscle and nerve sparing bulbar reconstruction
11. Pan-urethroplasty
• 1953: Johanson two-stage urethroplasty: penile ventral marsupialization followed by
second stage retubularization 6 months later
• 1993: McAninch distal/preputial circular fasciocutaneous skin flap
• 2000: Kulkarni penile invagination technique with OMG dorsal onlay
• 2009: Kulkarni one-sided penile invagination technique to preserve lateral neural and
blood supply to urethra
• 2010: Barbagli supported perineal urethros- tomy with Blandy flap technique for
complex/ irreparable urethral strictures or unfit patients for surgery
12. Posterior Urethra
• 1962: Pierce total abdominal pubectomy for exposure of posterior urethra
• 1968: Paine and Coombs end-to-end anasto- mosis after resection of scar and pubic bone (abdominal approach)
• 1973: Waterhouse combined abdomino-peri- neal approach.
• 1976: Turner-Warwick use of omentoplasty for transpubic primary anastomosis.
• 1986: Webster and Goldwasser perineal anas- tomotic urethroplasty with infrapubectomy.
13. Definition
Urethral stricture refers to urethral
luminal narrowing with associated
spongiofibrosis, which occurs in the
anterior urethra (distal to the external
sphincter).
Urethral stenosis is an obliterative,
fibrotic process that occurs in the
posterior urethra or bladder neck, usually
secondary to pelvic fracture urethral
distraction (PFUD) injuries or surgery
such as radical prostatectomy
14. Principles true hybrid of urologic and plastic surgery
Do no harm
Urethral tissues are very delicate and improper handling may lead to further
damage and compromised tissue quality
The tissue planes must be respected, and meticulously dissected layer by layer
Hemostasis must be quick and precise
Bipolar cautery is preferentially used
Proper visualization is key
Good retractor
Surgical loupes
Proper lighting and
Knowledgeable surgical assistant
16. RUG + MCUG
Modified lateral decubitus
position,
Hips placed at a 45° angle
Lower leg bend and the upper
leg straight
Penis must on full stretch
Patient is in a correct oblique
position, only one obturator
foramen should be visualized on
the scout image.
(a) Scout film and (b) retrograde urethrogram
showing a bulbar urethral stricture
• assess the continuity of urethra
• length of gap between the proximal and distal ends
• State of bladder, presence of diverticulum, stones
• bladder capacity
• Bladder neck—open or closed
17. Urethral Rest
For anterior urethral
strictures, the urethra
should not be instrumented
for 6–12 weeks prior to the
urethroplasty.
This allows the scar to
mature and declare itself
appropriately
18. Pelvic fracture urethral defect
[PFUD]
Should undergo a preoperative examination
under anesthesia, as estimation of the length
of the defect requires an antegrade flexible
cystoscopy via their suprapubic cystotomy
site, while a RUG is performed
simultaneously
Recommend repeat imaging after the
period of urethral rest as the surgical
plan may differ once the stricture has
fully declared itself
Pre-operative urine culture performed
19. For PFUD, a 3-month period of urethral rest is
traditionally recommended
although recent data has shown that a 3–6-week
resting period has similar outcomes.
Reconstructive urologist must ensure that
Patient’s other injuries have been appropriately
addressed
Patient is physically able to be placed in the
22. Nontraumatic bulbar strictures
Site of graft does not alter the outcomes for bulbar urethroplasty (LE-3, GR-strong)
In obese patients, young sexually active and post-TURP proximal bulbar
strictures ventral onlay urethroplasty remains the first-choice (LE-5, clinical principle)
Proximal bulbar strictures with healthy, spongiosa ventral onlay urethroplasty
is the first choice procedure (LE5, clinical principle)
Dorsal approaches include Barbagli-Circumferential mobilization or Kulkarni-
One side dissection for dorsal onlay and Asopa for Dorsal inlay (LE3, GR
moderate).
Kulkarni, et al.: USI guidelines on urethral stricture
23. Traumatic bulbar strictures
There is no role for DVIU (LE-3, GR-strong)
Short stricture-excision with anastomotic urethroplasty
(LE-3, GR strong)
Long stricture/failed anastomotic -Augmented
anastomotic urethroplasty is recommended (LE 4, GR strong).
Kulkarni, et al.: USI guidelines on urethral stricture
27. Why BMG?
Cosmetically superior incision
Hairless
Decreased operative time
Accustomed to a wet environment
Resistance to infection,
compatibility with a wet
environment
has a thick epithelium and a thin
lamina propria, making it tough and
easy to handle -----encourage graft
imbibition and inosculation
LONG-TERM FOLLOWUP OF THE VENTRALLY PLACED BUCCAL MUCOSA ONLAY GRAFT IN BULBAR URETHRAL
RECONSTRUCTION SEAN P. ELLIOTT, MICHAEL J. METRO AND JACK W. MCANINCH
28. Technique of graft selection
Harvest a rectangular graft that was
20% longer and 15% wider than the
urethral defect in order to
compensate for spontaneous elastic
retraction.
Care was taken to avoid damage to
the orbicular muscle and, to the
Stensen’s duct, the facial nerve and
the buccinators muscle.
29.
30.
31.
32. Anesthesia
Nasal intubation is not
mandatory, but it is helpful for
surgeons who are not familiar
with this technique.
33. Urethroscopy
attempted with a 6Fr
pediatric cystoscope / URS
in all patients.
Warner JN, Malkawi I, Dhradkeh M et al. A multi-institutional evaluation of the management and outcomes of
long-segment urethral strictures. Urology 2015; 85: 1483–7.
34. Selection of technique
In the bulbar urethra, the surgical technique selected
Stricture length
Stricture aetiology
Density of the spongiofibrosis tissue
35. Why EPA?
Urethra is the best substitute
for urethra - Turner- Warwick’s
opinion is still true
Indication
Penile: sharp cut
Bulbar: Traumatic
Posterior: Progressive perineal approach
36. Pillars of a successful anastomotic urethroplasty
An adequate urethral
mobilization without
tension
an excision of scar tissue
a precise mucosa
approximation
37. Advantage of EPA
Urethral reconstruction with excision of the strictured area
and end-to-end anastomosis is successful in >95% of
patients with a stricture of<2 cm
Webster GD Et al.
38. EPA: Disadvantage
Compared with BMG patch techniques EPA has
penile curvature (36% vs. 8%)
penile shortening (38% vs. 11%)
impaired erection (79% vs. 15%)
impaired sexual life (57% vs. 19%)
Overall satisfaction about sexual life was 74% vs
97%
Eltahawy EA, Virasoro R, Schlossberg SM, McCammon KA, Jordan GH. Long-term followup for excision and
primary anastomosis for anterior urethral strictures. J. Urol. 2007; 177: 1803–6.
39. EPA disadvantage
Success outcome in urethral repair should be
assessed not only by objective voiding parameters
but also by subjective parameters influencing
satisfaction
Culty T, Boccon-Gibod L. Anastomotic urethroplasty for posttraumatic urethral stricture: previous
urethral manipulation has a negative impact on the final outcome. J. Urol. 2007; 177: 1374–7.
40. Substitution Urethroplasty
Substitution urethroplasty is therefore the procedure of
choice for a long stricture in the proximal bulbar
urethra or a stricture of any length located anywhere
from the distal bulbar urethra to the penile urethra.
41. 3 Options of one stage
urethroplasty
(i) an onlay augmentation procedure (incise the stricture
and carry out a patch augmentation)
(ii) an augmented anastomotic procedure (excise the
stricture and restore a roof of the floor strip of native
urethra augmented by a patch)
(iii) a tube augmentation (excise the stricture and put in a
circumferential patch)
42.
43.
44. Rationale for dorsal graft
The corporeal body is a healthy host
for graft
Graft fixation by decrease graft
shrinkage and sacculation
Ventral urethral opening may create
serious bleeding from particularly
thick and highly vascular spongy
tissue
Periodic stretching during erection,
thereby reducing the risk of patch
retraction
Andrich DE, Mundy AR. Substitution urethroplasty with buccal mucosal-free grafts. J Urol
2001;165:1131–3.
49. Disadvantage of dorsal technique
Extensive mobilization of the urethra is necessary
Surgical technique is more difficult
Operation time is longer
Ischemic damages secondary to the dissection is higher
50. Success rate
Dorsal onlay BMG urethroplasty has shown a
success rate from 87.5% to 100% with a follow-up
ranging from 22 to 41 months .
24. Metro MJ, Wu HY, Snyder HM 3rd, Zderic SA, Canning DA: Buccal mucosal grafts: lessons learned from an 8-year experience. J Urol. 2001; 166: 1459- 61.
51. Success rate
Barbagli et al., published a retrospective study of 50
cases with bulbar urethral stricture
Grafts were placed as ventral, dorsal and lateral onlay
in 17,27 and 6 patients respectively
After a mean follow-up of 42 months, showed the
similar success rate
52. Ventral Onlay Augmentation Urethroplasty
Techniques first
described by Morey and
McAninch in 1996 for
bulbar urethral strictures
53. Ventral onlay: Advantages
Limited urethral mobilization with preservation of
perforating arteries
Shorter operative time and easier technique
compared with the dorsal onlay procedure
Simple technique and the phases of imbibition and
inosculation are facilitated
54. Ventral onlay: Disadvantage
Carried out only for midbulbar and proximal bulbar
strictures
Not suited for traumatic bulbar urethral stricture severely
scarred corpus spongiosum
Lack of spongiosum support reduces the likelihood of graft
survival, and increases the risks of ballooning and urine
pooling.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59. Tips ventral placement
The use of a larger caliber catheter has the advantage of
exposing the entire graft surface to the recipient bed
provided that no tension on the sutures is exercised
62. Advantages
Avoiding excessive circumferential mobilization of
the urethra reduces the vascular damage occurring
during urethroplasty.
63. One-sided dorsolateral onlay (Kulkarni technique)
Done for complex panurethral strictures
Kulkarni et al. reported an excellent result of a one-
stage procedure by dorsolateral onlay: with a
median follow up of 59 months the overall success
rate was 83.7%.62
69. Advantages: Asopa technique
Eliminates the outpouching and ballooning of the graft
The two halves of the urethra derive their blood supply
from the circumflex and perforating vessels
The sizing of the graft is accurate and hence pooling of
urine and semen is minimized.
DORSAL FREE GRAFT URETHROPLASTY FOR URETHRAL STRICTURE BY VENTRAL SAGITTAL ·uRETHROTOMY APPROACH HARi S. ASOPA, D , LAKHAN SOTI ASOPA
70. Limitations : Asopa`s technique
The urethral plate needs to be more than 1 cm wide
The graft that can be inlayed is typically narrower
than the wide grafts that can be achieved with an
onlay procedure
71.
72. Obliterative stricture
In obliterative or nearly
obliterative segment
Neither EPA nor an onlay
procedure is possible, because
such a stricture contains a
significant amount of
spongiofibrosis
Length of excised urethra would
result in too much tension on
anastomosis
73. Options for obliterative
Combination of EPA and primary anastomosis and
onlay augmentation, a combination called an
augmented anastomotic urethroplasty.
Onlay augmentation using two grafts (two-sided
dorsal plus ventral onlay urethroplasty, Palminteri
technique
Palminteri E, Lumen N, Berdondini E et al. Two-sided dorsal plus ventral oral graft bulbar urethroplasty: long-term results and predictive factors. Urology 2015; 85: 942–7.
74. Combined Dorsal plus Ventral Double Buccal Mucosa
Graft in Bulbar Urethral Reconstruction
Palminteri
technique
81. In 2001, Guralnick and Webster introduced the term
“augmented anastomosis”
Most obliterated segment of the stricture is excised, and
stricturotomy is carried out
Either the ventral or dorsal wall is then anastomosed, and the
remaining defect on the other side is repaired with a graft
They also suggested that strictures longer than 5 cm are
amenable to repair using this technique
84. Graft failure
Graft failure at the proximal anastomosis attributed to under
staging disease during surgery.
Proximal anastomosis is deep in the bulb, which is a more
difficult site technically in which to ensure epithelium-to-
urothelium placement.
Further study is necessary to clarify the true etiology of this kind
of repeat structuring (ischemia, suture line or suture material),
85. Graft failure
Early failure of a free graft can result from a poorly vascularized recipient bed
or infection hematoma.
Late re-stricture may owe to progression of the original disease.
Grafts fare poorly in the pendulous urethra where the corpus spongiosum is
less vascular.
Graft failure at the distal anastomosis may represent poor inosculation owing
to poor graft bed vascularity.
Important to incise the urethra well into normal tissue proximally and distally
to ensure complete stricture incision
86. Case of graft failure
remains uncertain …..poor healing and graft
incorporation at one or other end of the patch.
poor graft ‘take’, deficient vascularity of the graft bed,
poor surgical placement of apical sutures, or
insufficient dissection proximal and distal to the
stricture site to expose normal
Other series suggested that most failures occur in the
first year, implicating technical operative errors ,
whereas the present data suggest a peak at 2 years
Andrich DE, Dunglison N, Greenwell T, Mundy AR. The long-term results of urethroplasty. J
Urol 2003; 170 : 90–2
87. Complication of BMG
Urethrocele with post-void dribbling
and semen sequestration are
common
Yucel and Baskin reported that
perineal nerves innervate the
bulbospongiosus muscles and
send fine branches to penetrate
the corpus spongiosum, muscles in
the midline.
Rhythmic contractions of the
bulbospongiosus muscles and
other perineal muscles expel
semen and from the urethra
88. Recurrence
Stricture recurrences can, however, occur despite using
an adequate surgical technique and substitution
material may deteriorate over time
Armenakas NA. Long-term outcome of ventral buccal mucosal grafts for anterior urethral
strictures. AUA News 2004;9:17–8.
Elliot SP, Metro MJ, McAninch JW. Long-term followup of the ventrally placed buccal
mucosa onlay graft in bulbar urethral reconstruction. J Urol 2003;169:1754–7.
89. Recurrence
After bulbar substitution onlay urethroplasty
Extensive fibrous tissue involving the entire grafted area or
Short fibrous ring stricture at the distal or proximal anastomotic
sites
Use of fibrin glue in a new technique of dorsal onlay buccal
mucosal graft urethroplasty to
reduce the time of postoperative catheterisation,
the risk of postoperative urinary leakage, and
to reduce the incidence of postoperative anastomotic rings at the
apices of the sutures between the graft and the mucosal urethral
plate
90. Glue
The application of fibrin glue in urology mainly relates
to
Sealing power
Adjunct to sutures for closing wounds and promoting
healing because it increases tissue plane adherence,
accelerates revascularization,
Reduces haemorrhage, prevents seroma formation, and
decreases inflammation
22] Hick EJ, Morey AF. Initial experience with fibrin sealant in pendulous urethral reconstruction. Is early catheter removal possible? J Urol 2004;171:1547–9.
91. DVIU after BMG
Well-vascularized grafted area usually develops a
short and soft stricture, which responds better to
incision than primary strictures surrounded by
abundant scar tissue
92. Stage urethroplasty
The diseased corpus spongiosum is excised and proximal
urethrostomy is performed.
The dartos fascia is then sutured in the midline and buccal
mucosal grafts are spread fixed onto the corporeal bodies.
The patient is discharged home between postoperative days
8 and 10 after ensuring graft take.
Stage 2 urethroplasty is performed after 6 months
93. Required volume
Low-volume surgeons that the learning curve is long
and never reaches a plateau, even after 20 years.
(at least 15 cases a year) could treat bulbar urethral
strictures in less specialized centers.
Figler BD, Malaeb BS, Dy GW, Voelzke BB, Wessells H. Impact of graft position on failure of single-stage
bulbar urethroplasties with buccal mucosa graft. Urology 2013; 82: 1166–70.
94. Future
With the advent of tissue
engineering, artificially
produced grafts might also
find a place in the arsenal
of the reconstructive
surgeon.
95. Conclusion
“primum non nocere” (“first, do no harm”)
Currently the best technique is probably the one with
which the urological re-constructive surgeon is most
comfortable