Review: Non-transecting bulbar urethroplasty using buccal mucosa

Abstract

Augmentation urethroplasty using oral mucosal graft has become the standard surgical treatment of long bulbar strictures. In very tight strictures the urethral plate is narrowed to the extent that an almost circumferential substitution with oral graft is necessary, with suboptimal results. If the obliterative segment within a longer stricture is short it is possible, through a dorsal stricturotomy, to excise it in a non-transecting manner, leaving the ventral spongiosum intact and anastomose the mucosal edges to reconstitute the urethral plate to an adequate calibre. The stricturotomy is subsequently augmented with an oral mucosal graft. We describe this technique as the augmented non-transecting anastomotic bulbar urethroplasty. It also allows for use of a narrower and shorter graft. In our hands this procedure is associated with a 100% radiological success rate and a 95% patient satisfaction rate at a mean follow-up of 14.8 months (5.7–52.6 months).

Keywords: Urethral stricture; Bulbar urethroplasty; Non-transecting;
Buccal mucosal graft