Management of urethral stricture disease in a tertiary hospital in southern Nigeria

Background: Urethral Stricture Disease (USD) refers to a narrowed segment of the anterior urethra due to a process of fibrosis and cicatrisation of the urethral mucosa and surrounding spongiosis tissue (“spongiofibrosis”). Management of USD is challenging. This study describes our experiences in the management of USD.
Materials and Methods: This is a six-year retrospective study conducted at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Ethical approval for the study was sought and gotten from the hospital’s ethical committee. The information gotten included history, duration of symptoms, examination findings, age of the patient, stage of disease, intraoperative findings, and post-operative complications. The data from the folders were collected and evaluated. Frequencies, percentages, the mean and standard deviation were used to summarize the data as appropriate.
Results:  A hospital prevalence of 461/100,000. The mean age ±SD of the patients was 44.1 ±16.7. The 31 to 40 years old age group had the highest frequency of 46 (29.87%). Patients with a primary level of education had the highest frequency of 56 (50.9%). Most patients were artisans. Most (67.27%) of the strictures were located at the bulbar urethra. The most common procedure for treating USD was a Direct Vision Internal Urethrotomy (DVIU). The most common complication was a recurrence.
Conclusion: Patients with urethral stricture disease present late for treatment, the commonest form of treatment was DVIU. The treatment with the best outcome was anastomotic urethroplasty. The commonest complication was a recurrence.