Modernity and the changing pattern of aetiologies of urethral strictures at Moi Teaching and Refferal Hospital, Eldoret, Kenya

Abstract

Background: The aetiologies of urethral strictures may vary between institutions, countries and regions. They may also change with regard to respective frequencies over time due to altered social and economic developments. Urethral stricture disease has remained the predominant urological condition in Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) over the past one decade. The leading cause had been infectious in origin in sharp contrast to other tertiary centres in the country and region. A need arose to evaluate the trend of the aetiologies in the institution and see how they compared to the rest of the centres over the time.
Objective: To establish the urethral strictures aetiologies in MTRH and how they compare to institutional past causes as well as the rest of the institutions.
Design: Cross-sectional, purposive study spanning 15 months was done using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.
Setting: The Urology Unit of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret-Kenya.
Subjects: Sixty-five male patients admitted with and operated on for urethral strictures.
Results: The range of patients’ ages was from 9 years to 86 years with mean age ± SD being 43.1± 20.8. The causes of urethral strictures were 35.4% trauma, 24.6 % STI induced urethritis, 23.1% iatrogenic and 16.9% idiopathic.
Conclusion: There is a change in pattern of aetiologies of urethral strictures in MTRH from predominantly infection to trauma in alignment with other tertiary centres.