Strictures of the male urethra treated by the Otis method

During a 5-year interval 72 consecutive patients with urethral strictures were treated by internal urethrotomy according to the method of Otis. The etiology, surgical technique, complications and postoperative management are discussed. The results after a mean followup of 29 months showed an over-all success rate of 82 per cent (95 per cent confidence limits 71 to 90 per cent). It is concluded that internal urethrotomy should be considered for primary treatment of urethral strictures, since the procedure is easy and complications are few.