Early treatment outcomes of Urethral stricture surgery and patient satisfaction in Moi teaching and referral hospital, Eldoret-Kenya

Abstract

Background: Urethral strictures are scarred urethral tissues leading to narrowed lumen and difficult voiding. Their surgery requires a refined approach to achieve optimal results in terms of normal urination. Besides the quality of urine flow after surgery, the patient’s view of the surgical outcome is increasingly becoming an important factor in holistic patient care. This study looked into the early postoperative outcomes of stricture surgery up to the time of discharge and the patient satisfaction level following the treatment in a tertiary health facility in the Western region of Kenya.
Objective: To establish the early treatment outcomes and patient satisfaction after stricture surgery in Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret, Kenya.
Design: A cross-sectional, purposive study done using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.
Setting: The Urology Inpatient Unit of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret-Kenya.
Subjects: Sixty-five male patients admitted with and operated on for urethral strictures.
Results: The participants’ ages ranged from 9 years to 86 years with a mean ±standard deviation of 43.1 ± 20.8 years. Patients who had long strictures in excess of 3cm, membranous- or strictures in multiple sites and those with co-morbidities had more complications and lower levels of patient satisfaction. Overall, there was 80% rate of patient satisfaction at discharge from the ward.
Conclusion: Stricture site, length and patient co-morbidities determined the early surgical outcomes and the level of patient satisfaction.
Recommendation: Urologists should maximize patient satisfaction by optimizing the early surgical outcomes that are dependent on stricture and patient characteristics.