Study on clinical outcomes between non-transecting urethroplasty and lingual mucosal urethroplasty for iatrogenic bulbar urethral stricture treatment

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of non-transecting urethroplasty and lingual mucosal urethroplasty in the treatment of iatrogenic bulbar urethral stricture. RESULTS: A total of 25 patients with iatrogenic bulbar urethral stricture were enrolled, 12 of whom underwent lingual mucosal urethroplasty, 13 patients who underwent non-transecting urethroplasty. All patients were followed-up and evaluated at 3 postoperative months. Evaluations included urethrography, maximum urine flow rate (Qmax), nocturnal erectile function testing, International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) assessment, and Anxiety Related Scale (SAS) assessment. In terms of operation time, there was a significant difference between non-transecting urethroplasty and lingual mucosal urethroplasty. However, there was no significant intergroup difference in intraoperative blood loss. Both techniques were associated with significantly improved Qmax relative to preoperative rates, but there was no significant difference between the groups in this regard over 3 months of postoperative follow-up. Nocturnal penile tumescence and rigidity results showed that there was no significant change in tip hardness after surgery in the non-transecting urethroplasty group. Moreover, IIEF-5 scores indicated that there was no significant intergroup difference in terms of subjective postoperative erectile function. According to the preliminary psychological evaluations during postoperative follow-up, the anxiety scores of patients undergoing non-transecting urethroplasty significantly improved, but there was no significant change in the mean SAS score among patients who underwent lingual mucosal urethroplasty. CONCLUSION: Both surgical methods can achieve the clinical goal of treating iatrogenic bulbar urethral stricture. Non-transecting urethroplasty has the characteristics of short operation time, relative technical simplicity, and retention of the original erectile function of most patients, and the surgical outcomes of non-transecting urethroplasty are not inferior to those of lingual mucosal urethroplasty, and it is a promising technique for widespread use to treat bulbar urethral strictures.