The urethra helps discard the urine stored in the bladder outside the body. The urethra is a simple 4–5-cm-long organ in women, and it is a complex 15–20-cm-long structure in men. Men have spongy tissue called corpus spongiosum, which wraps around the urethra. Any damage to this structure can lead to bad wound healing and urethra stricture.
What is Urethra Stricture? What Causes Urethra Stricture?
Urethra stricture is a clinical problem characterized by fibrosis (bad wound healing) due to any damage to and stricture of the urinary tract. Urethra stricture can be caused by multiple reasons. Urologic interventions in men (operations such as TURP or TURM),catheters, passing a kidney stone, urethritis (sexually transmitted diseases),or trauma to the perinea area might cause urethra stricture and urethra injury.
You can read our article about urethra stricture here. In this article, I would like to talk about urethroplasty, which is a highly successful surgical method for treating urethra stricture.
What is Urethroplasty?
Urethroplasty is an open surgery for urethra stricture or urethra trauma patients. Although the fibrosis tissue that causes urethrae stricture is cut with endoscopic methods, these tissues tend to experience stricture again. Therefore, the success rate of endoscopic surgery for urethra stricture is low.
Numerous urethra stricture patients undergo endoscopic surgeries regularly, and this has negative effects on their quality of life. At this stage, a suitable approach would be urethroplasty surgery. Urethroplasty is performed by making an incision to the groin area. Depending on the location and length of the stricture, this surgery can be performed with a patch. The chances of success for urethroplasty are above 90% in experienced clinics. This method has been successfully performed in our clinic for many years.
Will Urethra Stricture have Negative Effects on Sexual Life?
Urethra stricture does not have too many negative effects on sexual life. However, if the disease leads to testicular or prostate inflammation, patients might experience negative effects on their sexual lives. In addition, some patients might experience temporary erectile dysfunction after urethroplasty surgery. This problem can be easily solved with medication.
Side Effects of Urethroplasty
Open urinary tract surgery does not have any side effects other than those generally associated with surgery, such as infection and bleeding. Although some patients experience temporary erectile dysfunction, this problem can be easily resolved.
