Introduction: Urethral strictures are first described as causing bladder outlet obstruction in ancient literature dating
back to the Greek and Egyptian period. The management of urethral stricture remains a challenge to all urologists,
especially for those failing to respond to repeated dilatation or optical urethrotomy, and for strictures recurring
after urethroplasty. So the idea is to use stents for preventing stricture recurrence based on mechanical interference,
and to prevent the scarring process that ends in contraction.
Objective: In this study, we tried to assess the efficacy and safety of the Memokath 044 temporary stent in the
treatment of recurrent bulbar urethral strictures.
Patients and Methods: Between April 2010 and May 2011, 16 patients presented with bladder outlet obstruction
(BOO) due to recurrent bulbar urethral strictures. All underwent Memokath 044 stenting. The stents were inserted
endoscopically under local or saddle-block anesthesia. Patients were followed up with Q-max , post-void residual
urine (PVR), sexual function, and quality of life (QoL) scores at 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12
months, post-insertion.
Results: All the stents were successfully inserted. The operative time ranged from 20 to 40 minutes (30 ± 6.45) with
no intraoperative complications. All patients achieved spontaneous voiding after insertion. The mean Qmax, PVR,
and QoL scores significantly improved after the procedure and continued to improve throughtout the follow-up
period. There were minimal postoperative complications; transient and treated conservatively. Stent migration
took place in 6.25% of cases with easy endoscopic repositioning. Obstruction of the stent lumen occurred in 6.25%,
which mandated stent removal.
Conclusion: The Memokath 044 stent is straightforward to insert and to remove, it can relieve the symptoms of
BOO due to recurrent bulbar urethral strictures in surgically risky patients, maintaining urethral patency without
affecting sexual intimacy and thereby improving the quality of life. |
