Healing of the urethral plate after deep incision: does catheterization change the course of this process?

We aimed to evaluate the sequence of healing process as well as possible effects of stent placement on the healing process after deep urethral plate incision.

A deep urethral plate incision was done at the 12 o'clock position. After that, in the first group (n = 14) the anterior urethra was stented with a silicon catheter. Animals in the second group (n = 14) underwent the same incision procedure, however no stent was placed after this operation. All animals in both groups were again divided into three groups with respect to the follow-up period (7-14 and 21 days). Partial penectomy was performed in all subgroups and histopathologic evaluation performed.

In the first group after 7 days, limited neovascularization and granulation tissue formation could be noted far away from the epithelial lumen. Evaluation of these specimens during the long-term follow-up (21 days) demonstrated an almost completely healed tissue with a remarkable neovascularization and well-developed granulation tissue. In the second group during 14-21 days, evaluation progression of tissue healing along with increasing vessel formation and re-epithelialization were demonstrated. Although the incision edges did show evident approximation, no sign of fibrosis could be demonstrated in these specimens.

We may say that tissue healing with a desired and complete re-epithelialization could be achieved without inserting a catheter. Prevention of re-approximation along with the limited urinary extravasations to the subepithelial area might be responsible for tissue protection that will limit the long-term aforementioned adverse effects of the procedure.