Muhammad Alam, Aminul Haq, Yousaf Jan.
Outcome of Optical Internal Urethrotomy in Acquired Urethral Strictures (A Prospective Study).
Ophthalmol Update Jan ;16(3):715-7.

Background: Urethral stricture disease has always been a challenge to urologists,so this article highly focuses on optical internal urethrotomy as a further advancement in management of acquired urethral strictures. Methods: This study was conducted at Urology Department, Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar from February 2010 to November 2011. All male patients in the age group 16-80 years with urethral strictures were included in the study. Patients below the age of 16 years and with neurogenic bladder, enlarged prostate, bladder stones and meatal stenosis were excluded. All patients were investigated with standardized protocol. Optical internal urethrotomy was done in all patients. Follow up was done at 3, 6 and 12 months interval .The success of the procedure was evaluated by grading the patients response as good, improved and total failure . Results: A total of 116 patients in the age group 16-80 years were included of which the mean age was 49 years. The most common presentation was lower urinary tract symptoms in 63 patients (54.31%), followed by urinary retention in 43 patients (37.06%) and obstructive uropathy in 10 patients (8.6%). Trauma as a whole was the sole cause in 81 of the patients (69.82%). Bulbar urethra was the most common site for stricture in 52 patients (44.82%). In the first follow up, 25 patients while in second follow up 53 patients and in the final follow up, 76 patients (74.50%) were free of symptoms. Fourteen patients were lost to follow up. Conclusion: Optical internal urethrotomy is a safe and minimally invasive procedure in expert hand with low morbidity for the working class people.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com