Endoscopic Internal Urethrotomy (EIU) for the Treatment of Ureteral Stenosis: A Review of 233 Cases

Abstract

Background: Urethral stricture is a not uncommon pathology consisting of the narrowing of the urethra lumen with consequent reduction or cessation of urine flow. Objective: The objective is to retrospectively evaluate the results of treatment of urethral strictures by endoscopic internal urethrotomy in a series of 233 cases. Patients and Methods: It is Retrospective and descriptive study of 233 cases of urethral strictures treated by endoscopic internal urethrotomy under visual control in a private facility in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) over the period from 1 December 2007 to 31 December 2017. The study parameters were epidemiological, etiological, characteristics of the narrowing and the outcome of the treatment according to the predictive elements. Results: 233 patients were treated with endoscopic internal urethrotomy (EIU). All patients were male. The mean age of the patients was 49 years with extremes from 17 to 84 years. Dysuria (55.79%) was the most frequent reason for consultation: the etiologies were infectious (51.50%), traumatic (32.18%), and iatrogenic (13.73%) and not found (2.57%). Retrograde urethrocystography with fictional films performed in all patients showed the following characteristics: the stricture was bulbar (81.04%), unique (55.79%) and short in 68.6%. There was a 39.91% good outcome after the first EUS. The average follow-up was 3 years. Mortality was nil and morbidity was assessed at 4.72%. The result was better when the procedure concerned a short (≤3 cm), single stenosis on the posterior urethra. The average duration of the postoperative urinary catheter was 14 days on average. The poor results (60.08%) were observed in cases of long stenosis, located on the anterior urethra or concerning elderly patients. 69.28% were cured after a second urethrotomy; the remaining cases were managed by urethroplasty or urethral dilatation. Conclusion: IEU is a simple, reproducible and attractive procedure with an overall success rate of 81.54% in 3 years. Its indication must be made in the case of short stenosis, single posterior and in the young subject.