Management of Anterior Urethral Strictures

Anterior urethral strictures affect the male urethra between the tip of the penis and the apex of the prostate. These form the bulk of urethral strictures in men. The common causes for urethral strictures seem to be idiopathic or related to instrumentation of the urethra. Clinically, patients have varying obstructive symptoms associated with the progressive narrowing of the urethral lumen. Treatment modalities have aimed at incising or excising the fibrous tissue, augmenting the damaged area by grafts or flaps, or more recently, replacing the area with tissue engineered constructs. As the biology of wound healing and fibrous tissue formation is not yet completely understood, urethral strictures continue to pose a challenge to clinicians and scientists.