Sixty women with the diagnosis of urethral syndrome were consecutively assigned to one of three treatment modalities. The first group (20 patients) was treated with tetracycline, 2 g/d for ten days. The second group (20 patients) was treated with three serial urethral dilations at two- to three-week intervals, and the third group (20 patients) received placebo for ten days and served as a control group. A detailed clinical evaluation and uroflowmetry were performed before treatment and eight weeks afterwards. A subjective cure, which was defined as an absence of symptoms at the follow-up visits, was achieved in 20% of the placebo group, 50% of the tetracycline group and 75% of the urethral dilation group (P less than .01). An objective improvement in uroflowmetry occurred only in the group treated with serial urethral dilation.