Urethroplasty with abdominal skin grafts for long segment urethral strictures

Abstract

Purpose: Buccal derived graft tissue has been proven to be useful in urethral reconstruction. However, nonbuccal sources are often needed for long segment strictures or for those with prior buccal harvest. We describe a technique using full-thickness abdominal skin grafts for long segment urethroplasty and present the short-term outcomes.

Materials and methods: A total of 21 men underwent urethroplasty for strictures of an average of 11 cm (range 4 to 24) using abdominal wall skin. Prior urethroplasty was performed in 52% of patients and multistage repair was conducted in 48%.

Results: The recurrence rate following urethroplasty was 19%, with 9.5% requiring revision after first stage urethroplasty. Complications included hair from the skin graft during the early part of the series (14.5%), glans dehiscence (9.5%), urethrocutaneous fistula (9.5%) and periurethral abscess (1 patient). Histological evaluation at 6 months demonstrated excellent uptake of grafts with minimal keratinization.

Conclusions: In men with significant penile scarring, lichen sclerosis and long segment urethral strictures the use of abdominal skin limits donor site morbidity, and provides a useful alternative graft source for urethroplasty when buccal mucosa or genital skin are not available or sufficient. Grafts should be harvested from nonhair bearing areas to minimize the risk of urethral hair development.