Buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty in long segment anterior urethral stricture - Is it gold standard?

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To assess the success of dorsal onlay buccal mucosal graft (BMG) urethroplasty in long segment anterior urethral stricture extending from external meatus to bulbar urethra). We studied 40 patients with long segment anterior urethral stricture, who underwent substitution urethroplasty using dorsal onlay BMG from January 2002 to December 2007. The patients were in the age range of 15-65 years (mean 35 years) in the LS group and 16-63 years (mean 34 years) in the non-lichen sclerosus (NLS) group. The cause of stricture was LS in 20 and NLS (inflammatory and idiopathic) in the other 20 patients. The mean stricture length was 14.5 cm (range 12-17 cm) in the LS group while it was 14.0 cm (range 12-16 cm) in the NLS group. The patients were evaluated with antegrade, retrograde urethrograms and sono-urethrograms and they were followed- up with uroflometery at three months for one year, then six- monthly for two years and then annually. The contrast studies were repeated at six-monthly intervals for one year and then annually for one year. Success was defined as normal voiding pattern without any intervention post-operatively. Median follow-up was 48 months (18-72 months) in the LS group, while it was 42 months (12-72 months) in the NLS group. Among the NLS group patients, three patients developed restricture on follow-up, while seven patients among the LS group developed restricture. We conclude that the high percentage of recurrence of strictures (35%) among the LS group renders BMG urethroplasty in long segment anterior urethral stricture an unacceptable solution, and it needs further study.