Abstract
– The first documents of urethral surgery for urethral strictures date back to the 4th century BC. In the past, endoscopic surgery was the best solution for most urologists. Nowadays, literature shows that the approach to urethral strictures depends on the degree of involvement of the spongy body. The choice of surgical reconstruction technique depends on the anatomical differences in the anterior portion of the urethra, which is divided anatomically into navicular, penile and bulbar. The gold standard for urethroplasty of the navicular urethra is the free graft which can take root due to the presence of glandular tissue. Techniques using a preputial pedunculated graft are good for penile urethra, while a free graft of preputial origin, that has first been perforated and then tubularised, is suggested for very long strictures (> 5 cm). Epidermal or mucosal free grafts can be used for bulbous urethral strictures, due to the presence of thick spongy tissue. The urethra should be completely substituted with a neo-urethra formed by preputial pedunculated and tubularised graft only for wide strictures with associated fibrosis of the spongy portion. Recurrent strictures can be treated twice with surgery.
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