Incidence of Urethral Stricture in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury Treated With Clean Intermittent...

To report the incidence of urethral stricture and its management in patients with spinal cord injury treated with clean intermittent self-catheterization (CIC).

The clinical records of 333 patients with spinal cord injury treated with CIC since 2001 were identified, and those who developed a urethral stricture during their follow-up, including their treatment and results achieved, were analyzed.

The patients had a median age at the time of injury of 27 years, of which only 14 patients (4.2%) developed urethral stricture at a mean duration of self-catheterization of 9 years; 86% of them were treated with urethrotomy, without recurrence through a mean of 1-year follow-up. There are no previous reports of rates of urethral stricture in this type of patients in our institution; the rate found is considerably low, as is the recurrence after urethrotomy, which can be decreased by the continuous self-obturation achieved with catheterization.

Urethral stricture as a complication of CIC in patients with spinal cord injury has a low incidence and can be effectively treated in those who develop it.