Perineal Urethrostomy

OBJECTIVES: Strictures due to lichen sclerosus (LS) may affect the urethra as far proximally as the mid-bulb. For such strictures, a staged full-length repair is required and should use a nonpenile graft source such as buccal mucosa. Many cases occur in a population already accustomed to seated voiding, leading us to re-evaluate this approach and, in some circumstances, recommend definitive perineal urethrostomy alone.
METHODS:We reviewed the medical records and retrograde urethrograms of all patients undergoing surgery for LS at our facilities between January 1991 and June 2002.
RESULTS: A total of 63 patients, with an average age of 54.2 years, underwent surgery for LS stricture with an average follow-up of 38.5 months (range 4 to 117). Of the 63 patients, 19 underwent grafting in preparation for future reconstruction. Of these, 11 completed the second-stage repair, and 8 patients elected not to undergo the second stage of the repair, leaving a functional perineal urethrostomy. This led us to look more critically at definitive perineal urethrostomy alone for some patients. Parallel with the staged repairs, and subsequent to them, 44 patients underwent perineal urethrostomy alone.
CONCLUSIONS: The often extensive nature of LS, the prevailing philosophy that urethroplasty must use nonpenile skin, the limited availability of such sources, and the acceptance of many patients for seated voiding makes definitive perineal urethrostomy alone a viable treatment option. In all our cases, this satisfied patients’ quality of life concerns, leaving the anterior urethra dry and amenable to future repair. Younger men desirous of penile voiding should still be considered for staged repair using current techniques.

Purpose: We performed a quality of life assessment for patients treated with perineal urethrostomy for anterior urethral stricture disease.

Material and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 173 patients (median age 55 years) who underwent perineal urethrostomy (from 1978 to 2007) as part of a plan for a staged urethroplasty repair for a complex anterior urethral stricture. The perineostomy was made using flap urethroplasty. The clinical outcome was considered a failure when postoperative instrumentation was needed. A questionnaire was used to evaluate patient quality of life and satisfaction.

Results: Stricture etiology was unknown in 50.3% of the cases, lichen sclerosus in 17.3%, catheter in 13.3%, instrumentation in 8.7%, failed hypospadias repair in 4.6%, trauma in 4.1% and infection in 1.7%. Stricture length was 1 to less than 2 cm in 1.2% of cases, 2 to less than 3 cm in 3.5%, 3 to less than 4 cm in 12.1%, 4 to less than 5 cm in 13.8%, 5 to less than 6 cm in 7.5%, greater than 6 cm in 4.1% and panurethral in 57.8%. Of 173 patients 91 (52.6%) underwent prior urethroplasty. Median follow-up length was 62 months (range 12 to 361). Of 173 cases 121 (70%) were successful and 52 (30%) were failure, requiring revision of the perineostomy. Of 173 patients 135 (78%) were satisfied with the results obtained with surgery, 33 (19.1%) were very satisfied, 127 (73.4%) with a median age of 57 years (range 23 to 85) refused to do the second stage of urethroplasty and 46 (26.6%) with a median age of 47.5 years (range 27 to 72) are currently on a waiting list for the second stage of urethroplasty.

Conclusion: Perineostomy is a necessary procedure for patients with complex urethral pathology and satisfaction rates are higt.