Scientific and Practical Basis of Surgical Treatment of the Male Urethral Stricture Using a Free Oral Mucosa Graft

Abstract

Strictures of the male urethra are a relatively common disease with a serious impact on the quality of life in men. The lack of a universal operative technique gives rise to different opinions and recommendations when choosing the most appropriate treatment approach.

The present study aimed to prospectively analyze the results of surgical treatment of male urethral strictures with a free oral mucosa graft in comparison with other operative techniques, and to compare the obtained results with the data from the other reference centres. For a period of 5 years – from January 2017 to March 2022, 84 patients with a urethral stricture (newly diagnosed and recurrent) were operated on and followed up at the Clinic of Urology with a specific activity in Andrology of “Tsaritsa Yoanna – ISUL” University Hospital. Patients were divided into 3 groups: patients after urethroplasty with a free oral mucosa graft; patients after urethroplasty using extragenital tissue graft and anastomotic urethroplasty; transurethral minimally invasive operative techniques. Patients from Group 1 and Group 2 had a mean recurrence-free period of 19.35 ± 8.24 months and 20.62 ± 6.5 months, respectively, which were statistically significantly longer compared to Group 3 (10.44 ± 9.84), p = 0.000.

Lingual mucosa proves to be a highly efficient alternative material in urethroplasty.