Intermittent self dilatation--still a viable option for treatment of urethral stricture disease

The study was conducted to find out if intermittent self dilatation (ISD) is still a viable option for treatment of urethral strictures in patients who had undergone either urethral dilatation or urethrotomy prior to ISD. The study included 310 male patients with the age range from 17 to 93 years old from January 1996 to March 2007. The data was gathered from the computer data base kept by the urology unit in the hospital. A questionnaire was used to evaluate their tolerance towards the procedure and quality of life. Of the total number of patients 262 replied to the questionnaire. The mean follow up was 57.68 months with 67.7% continuing with the procedure. The procedure was well tolerated by 84.1% of patients and 79.6% had no technical difficulty. The most number of patients carrying out this procedure were in the 6th and 7th decade of life. There was a recurrence rate of urethral strictures of 16.9%. It is seen that even today ISD following an endoscopic procedure is a viable treatment option. The patients seem to tolerate this procedure well and it is an option in the elderly patient group who may not be fit or willing to undergo reconstructive surgery or urethroplasty.