Dorsal onlay urethroplasty using buccal mucosal graft and vaginal wall graft for female urethral stricture – Outcome of two-institution study

INTRODUCTION: Female urethral stricture is an underdiagnosed condition and a diagnostic challenge. Traditionally treatment has been urethral dilatation. Recent studies have shown promising outcomes after female urethroplasty (FU). We report our two-institutional experience with dorsal onlay substitution FU using buccal mucosal graft (BMG) and vaginal wall graft (VWG). METHODS: In this retrospective study, 32 women who underwent dorsal onlay urethroplasty at two institutions in India and Portugal were included for comparison of outcomes between BMG and VWG. The need for re-intervention was defined as failure. Their assessment included American Urological Association (AUA) symptom score, peak flow rate (Qmax), urethral calibration, postvoid residual urine (PVR), voiding cystourethrogram, and cystoscopy. Other parameters such as age, need for suprapubic cystostomy, prior interventions, location, length, etiology, operating time, postoperative catheter time, complications, and follow-up were evaluated. Statistical analysis was done with two-sample t-test, Mann–Whitney test, and proportion test for equality. RESULTS: 21 patients underwent BMG and 11 underwent VWG, respectively. The overall mean age was 49 years (range: 25–75) and follow-up was 26 months (range: 13–62). The overall change in AUA symptom score was from 22 to 6, Qmax from 4ml/s to 26mL/s, and PVR from 185ml to 17 ml with no statistical difference between the two groups. Other parameters showed no difference except operating time. The overall urethral patency rate was 94% with no statistical difference in these groups (P = 0.0773). CONCLUSIONS: Dorsal onlay substitution FU is easy to perform with low complication rate. We found no difference in outcome of FU in these groups. Early FU should be encouraged to avoid the adversities of repeated dilatations.