Direct Visual Internal Urethrotomy (Dviu) for Untreated Bulbar Urethral Strictures. A Solution?

Abstract

Introduction :Urethral stricture diseases have been treated with numerous approaches. Though open urethroplasty is considered a one-time solution [1], The direct visual internal urethrotomy (DVIU) is still considered an alternative approach in the stepladder of treatment [2,3]. Here we report our experience at a tertiary care hospital with DVIU in a homogeneous series of patients with bulbar urethral stricture who underwent strict follow-up and present a multivariable analysis of the results to identify signicant predictors of treatment failure. We wish to offer new insights into DVIU. Materials and method: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent internal urethrotomy. Patients who underwent DVIU for untreated bulbar urethral strictures with minimum follow-up of 12 months were included. Patients with traumatic stricture and stricture length >4 cm were excluded.The primary outcome was treatment failure. Multivariable Cox regression analyses by Stata v.12.0 were used to test the association between predictors:- Stricture etiology, stenosis length, preoperative maximum ow [pQmax]) and treatment failure. Results: 215 patients were included. Median follow-up was 35 months. At 5-yr follow-up the failure-free survival rate was 54.4%. On multivariable analysis pQmax was the only signicant predictor of treatment failure. Conclusions: DVIU success rate for untreated bulbar urethral strictures was signicantly associated with preoperative maximum ow rate. The patients with a pre- operative maximum ow lesser than 6 ml/s have a low probability of success and may be considered for alternative treatments such as open urethroplasty, especially when affected by long urethral strictures.