Urethral Stricture and Urethroplasty Practice in a Teaching Hospital in Anambra, South-Eastern Nigeria

Background: Management of urethral stricture disease remains a challenge in the field of urology. Though several options exist for its management, urethroplasty has proved to give the best outcome.

Methodology: This is a retrospective study of urethral strictures and urethroplasties for 5years spanning from January 2015 to December 2019 at a tertiary teaching hospital in Anambra, South East Nigeria. Data were retrieved from the case notes of all the urethral strictures cases which presented to our facility in these 5 years and analysed using Microsoft Excel.

Results: A total of 186 patients were diagnosed with urethral stricture disease within the 5 years period. However, only 28 (15.1%) of them had urethroplasty within the period, mostly due to a lack of funds. Of those who had urethroplasty, their ages ranged from 4 – 64 years, with a median of 29.50 years. Motor vehicular road traffic accident (RTA) was the most common (46.43%) aetiology. Excision and anastomosis were the most common type of urethroplasty performed (71.43%), and the most common complication was stricture recurrence (32.14%).

Conclusion: Though urethroplasty techniques have become more refined, accessibility of care continues to hamper treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa due to socioeconomic issues.