Use of Temporary Membrane-Covered Self-Expandable Metallic Stent – UVENTA(TM) for Treatment of Recurrent Bulbar Urethral Stricture

INTRODUCTION: Recurrent urethral stricture is a real challenge. Interestingly use of temporary double layered self-expanding nitinol urethral stent with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane coating (Uventa(TM), Taewoong Medical, South Korea) has been recently reported with promising short-term results in recurrent urethral stricture. However most of the reported studies are published as abstracts of either case reports or case series of miniscule numbers. The aim of our study is to evaluate the outcome of this temporary urethral stent in patients with recurrent urethral stricture after urethroplasty as well as after multiple visual internal urethrotomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, 22 patients had placement of double-layered self-expanding stent with PTFE membrane coating (Uventa, Taewoong Medical) for recurrent bulbar strictures. The present study included cases between 2017 and 2020. The stricture in each patient were evaluated with Uroflowmetry and ascending urethrography. The data of demographic and clinical characteristics included age, aetiology, location and length of stricture, along with maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), number of previous interventions, and stent-related complications. RESULTS: The overall clinical success was achieved in 13/22 (59.1%) of patients at a median follow-up of 17 months (range 2–44). The mean maximum urine flow rates were 7.07 ± 3.55mL/sec, 23.50 ± 10.41mL/sec, 21.41± 15.55 mL/sec, 14.88 ± 9.77 and 17.63 ± 12.28 mL/sec before, while stent in place, at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after the procedure, respectively. CONCLUSION: In our study, the success rate of temporary urethral stent placement has remained at 59.1% at a median follow-up of 17 months. We conclude that further randomized controlled studies with long-term follow up are required to fully evaluate the outcome.