Better defining the optimal management of penile urethral strictures: A retrospective comparison of single-stage vs. two-stage urethroplasty

Abstract

We aimed to compare single-stage and two-stage urethroplasty techniques for the treatment of penile urethral strictures. We performed a retrospective review of all penile urethroplasties performed at a single centre between 2003 and 2017. The primary outcome was urethral patency, defined as the ability to easily pass a 16 Fr flexible cystoscope at six and 18 months of followup, and development of 90-day complications. Overall, 101 single-stage procedures (48 buccal mucosal graft [BMG] and 53 penile fasciocutaneous flap [PFF]) and 53 two-stage procedures were performed. There was no difference in median stricture length between groups (p=0.25). Cox regression analysis did not identify stricture etiology, length, age, obesity, prior reconstruction, or urethroplasty technique to be associated with failure. Log-rank testing did not demonstrate a difference in success rates between surgical techniques (91% [48/53] PFF vs. 83% [40/48] BMG vs. 87% two-stage [46/53]). Thirty-nine percent (60/154) of patients experienced a complication (51% [27/53] PFF vs. 29% [14/48] BMG vs. 36% [19/53] two-stage). Multivariate analysis found urethroplasty technique to be the only factor associated with development of complication (p=0.02); odds ratio relative to BMG was 3.1 (p=0.009) for PFF and 1.4 (p=0.43) for two-stage. There appears to be little difference in success between penile urethroplasty techniques. The shift in technique to a single-stage BMG, when appropriate, appears to be founded on the basis of fewer operations for the patient, relative to a two-stage repair, and a lower complication profile, relative to single-stage PFF, without compromising success rates.