Results and complications of urethroplasty and its future

A consecutive series of 200 patients undergoing urethroplasty has been reviewed to assess the results and complications of surgery and thereby assess the role of urethroplasty in the treatment of urethral strictures with particular reference to the current interest in intraluminal "stenting" of strictures. Anastomotic urethroplasty for post-traumatic strictures and "patch" urethroplasty for post-infective strictures give satisfactory results which at present do not seem to be bettered by any other form of treatment. Urethroplasty for so-called "ischaemic" strictures gives less satisfactory results which could almost certainly be improved upon by intraluminal "stenting" or some other novel form of treatment. The incidence of impotence, temporary and permanent, after urethroplasty is probably greater than is generally realised and the aetiology of this complication warrants serious investigation as this is the single most important limiting factor in urethroplasty.