Diagnosis and treatment of anterior urethral strictures in China: an internet-based survey

BACKGROUND: To investigate the current diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to anterior urethral strictures of Chinese urologists and to compare with developed countries and the American Urologic Association guidelines. METHODS: Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to members of Official Wechat Account of urology from March 19, 2020 to April 10, 2020. Descriptive and multiple correspondence analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: A total of 1276 online questionnaires were received. The response rate was 21.7% (1276/5878). The most common diagnostic methods for anterior urethral stricture were urethrography (90.7%) and urethrocystoscopy (85.4%), while urethral dilation (92.3%) and internal urethrotomy (60.1%) were the main therapeutic procedures. End-to-end urethroplasty (45.2%) was the most common open surgery, followed by skin flap urethroplasty (14.9%) and free graft urethroplasty (12.4%). 76.2% of urologists used urethroplasty only after the failure of minimally invasive surgery (reconstructive ladder treatment strategy). Furthermore, middle-aged or elderly urologists who had attended trainings, had senior practice roles, and who utilized a reconstructive ladder treatment approach were most likely to perform urethroplasties. CONCLUSIONS: Anterior urethral stricture treatment in China is still dominated by minimally invasive surgery, with most urologists using the reconstructive ladder treatment strategy. In general, the overall diagnostic and therapeutic strategies were similar between China and developed countries, with some deviations from the American Urologic Association guidelines. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12894-021-00950-0.