Prostatic Stents

Abstract

Eighty-five intraurethral devices were used in 73 patients. The first 60 patients had an indwelling catheter in place before stent insertion. The minimum followup period was 6 months. A polyurethane intraurethral catheter (IUC) was used, with a success rate of 74%. The devices were inserted under local anesthesia with lidocaine jelly. Patients with successfully inserted stents voided satisfactorily and were continent. No clinical urinary tract infection was found, although 16% of the patients had positive urine cultures, treated with the appropriate antibiotics. The IUC appears to be a simple and economical prosthesis. The currently used urethral stents, the IUC, and the metal prostheses do not allow a catheter to be inserted transurethrally if obstruction does occur; however, the IUC can be pushed into the bladder by a catheter. The recently used expansible mesh stent allows cystoscopy and manipulation within the bladder. Intraurethral devices are a good alternative to an indwelling catheter in patients awaiting prostatectomy and also in those who are either unwilling or unfit to undergo prostatectomy.