I have Urethra Stricture , need some suggestion for the details below .

I am from India and being treated in Apollo Hospital .

I don't have any trouble passing urine .

But the trouble is passing the self-dialation  tube .

I need to do it once a week and recently I am not able to do so (as mentioned above ).Thats why I worry .

As long as your passing urine I would not worry about it.  How big is the tube maybe you can use a smaller one .  Ken

I'm not a doctor nor do I work in the medical field. I've had a large stricture for 25 years and I have had a failed DVIU surgery in 2013, 3 weeks ago (Oct 10, 2016) I underwent a BMG urethroplasty. I'm only qualified to speak of my own personal experience.

Best of Luck for your operation ..

did it recurrured recently ? Is urethoplasty 100% sure treatment ?

Please keep sharing your experience post-operation also ..

best of luck again ..

The urethroplasthy will get rid of the stricture and being your young you should heal very well But don't get the end to end you will lose length.  Have the one with the grath.  I have read up on the 2 of them and it seam alot of men have had good results with it.  Good luck my young friend  Ken

I had the DVIU surgery first and mine failed also. The success rate of the DVIU is only 55-60%. Two years after my DVIU surgery my stricture closed completely, my urologist recommended the Urethroplasty with Buccal Mucosa Graft (BMG). The buccal mucosa is the inside lining of your cheek. The success rate of the Urethroplasty with BMG is 95-97%.

I had my urethroplasty surgery October 10, 2016 and am still healing, but I did not loose any length of my penis. If you have a type of urethroplasty called "End to End" you will most likely lose some length. Research the two operating techniques before your surgeon selects a method. You should have input in to that discussion.

My stricture was 8cm of completely closed urethra, urethroplasty surgery is a difficult surgery on your body, but I would definitely do it again as living with the stricture is worse.

JT  I wish you well and I hope you heal.  Do you still have a catheter in or did they take it out.  I would never have a end to end done.  I have look up both and the graft one is the best.  I have a stricture just before the prostate all is fine for now  I have it checked ever 3 or 4 month.  Try to relax and heal well.  Ken   

Hi JT,

Wish you all the best post op.

Can you let us know your experience so far. How did you feel before the op and after.

Any pain etc and how has life been in the past 3 weeks. How have you been copied g with your catheter etc.

Thanks,

Billy

Hope u get well and feel better and hopefully I pray your stricture never to come back and this surgery to be successfull. 

Can u tell me what were your symtoms before surgery?

My symptoms are very very bad especially the pain and burn and bleeding is too much. I am so fed up that I feel like what the heck is this..

But I would really like to know more about it please

My stricture started 25 years ago (1990 timeframe I was about 25 years old at the time) with no pain or discomfort but a very slow steam compared to my peer group, other men my age were able to urinate and leave the restroom much faster than I. Ejaculation was also not complete but I didn't realize I was different then. As I entered my late 40s, My stricture had closed so much that I was unable to void completely so I began getting urinary tract infections more often and started having to manually squeeze my urethra right behind my testicles in an effort to pump urine out manually. I also had a small amount of blood in my urine stream occasionally. I began screening urologists to find the most qualified for the issues I was experiencing. I selected a urologist, he performed diagnostic tests and recommended a DVIU surgical procedure. Following the surgery for about 12 months everything was great, then my urine stream began to weaken and over the next 12 months my situation declined until I was unable to urinate at all, which is somewhat alarming and very painful. I returned to urologist and he referred me to a truly amazing urologist in Atlanta, Georgia who routinely performs a much more complicated surgery called Urethroplasty which you're probably familiar with. To prepare for the forthcoming urethroplasty, the urologist surgically inserted a suprapubic (SP) catheter (cath.)

The SP cath was in place for 90 days prior to the urethroplasty and its function and purpose was to remove urine directly from my bladder without passing through my urethra, to reduce selling and inflammation. The SP cath is much easier to tolerate, to me, than a Foley cath is.

Following the Urethroplasty surgery I had two catheters, the SP cath AND a Foley cath. The SP cath removed urine directly from the bladder and the Foley cath is capped closed and is only in place to provide a form for the repaired section of the urethra to heal around. The Urethroplasty I had was with a buccal mucosa graft (BMG) because my stricture was 8cm (3.15 inchs) long. Another surgical option for shorter strictures is called an "End to End" wherein the surgeon simply removes (cuts out) the affected section and the sutures the two ends together. I know this was a lot of information, I hope I answered your question.

I typed quite a bit in response to another question in this thread that I think will partially answer your question, please read my other post also.

Life in the 3 weeks since surgery is that each week I've felt better than the previous week. The first week I spent in the hospital. I don't know what is common, but my urologist requires being admitted and remaining in the hospital for 6-7 days following the operation. I think this is prudent, I wouldn't have wanted to go through week 1 at home. The primary pain during week 1 was definitely the donor graft area and stitches inside of my left check.

Week 2's pain was general body ache from the whole surgical ordeal, coupled with the incision healing inside my mouth. After 10 days from the surgery my cheek and mouth were healed well enough that it was tolerable. Sitting upright on chairs and in cars puts a lot of pressure on the perineum (the incision area from your scrotum to your anus). The uncomfortable (painful) condition of sitting is consistant throughweeks 2 and 3. I anticipate sitting upright in chairs and seats will continue for months, only time will tell.

Week 3's challenge has been the discomfort of having two catchers rubbing on my bladder and the ach of the Foley cath in my penis. It's an aggravating feeling to be sure. I still am taking one pain pill (oxycodone acetamitophen) in the evening to take the edge off the ache before I lay down to sleep.

I have 2 catheters in, a suprapubic (SP) cath and a Foley cath. The SP cath removes waste and the Foley is capped closed the maintain a rigid form while the urethra held from the BMG graft repair. Most often catheters are removed in 2-4 weeks totally dependent on when the urologist thinks it's prudent to remove them. It's their professional judgement. My urologist said both catheters will stay in place for 5 weeks following surgery (October 10 to November 16th) because of the length of the stricture and a previous failed DVIU repair almost 3 years ago. 5 weeks time is a little frustrating for me but I'm not willing to jeopardize the repair; so I soldier on.

No surgical repair is 100% due to the many variables at hand. Age of the patient, experience of the surgeon, size of the stricture, length of time the catheters remain in place, other health conditions that affect healing, such as diabetes, if the patient a smokes cigarette... and the variables continue ad infinitum. A 100% expectation is utterly unrealistic.

I hope all goes well for you.  That is alot for a mans body to go through.  You need the repair to work  Take care  Ken

Thank you, Ken. Every urethroplasty surgery is a lot for a persons body to deal with. No exaggeration, the paraneal incision is akin to cutting a vagina into a male with regard to length of the incision, location and depth of the wound. I highly recommend the surgery, but more importantly I also recommend that the patient plan on doing absolutely nothing for one month afterward. No work, no hobbies, no car rides... nothing. I'm not saying that you can't do one or two of those activities, I'm saying clear your calendar so you don't have to.

Hi JT,

Thank you for your response.

I hope everything goes well for you and you find relief from your surgery once and for all.

Thank you for all the information and your experience through it all. It has been very refreshing to hear from someone who has recently experienced the surgery.

All the best,

Billy

Yes  you will not be able to do much but lay in bed with your legs apart.  It will take some time for all of that area to heal  Let us know whats going on  Take care  ken

Is one DVIU operation and then proper self-dialation for life-time (once a week or two weeks ) a proper alternative . I mean whether or not we get a recurring symptom , we just keep on doing self-dialation at fixed proper interval . I mean its better than open operation in my sense .

Please consult your doctor about it and reply  or provide your opinion .

 

What a "proper course of action is", is totally a team decision between a patient and their physician. Personally I believe that with a 55-60% success rate, DVIU only gets one chance. If you are adverse to open surgery then probably self catheter for the rest of your life is a good alternative. For me, I'll take the short term (6 months) of pain and discomfort of the Urethroplasty for the remainder of my life living carefree.

No one will ever criticize either of us for choosing the surgery or avoiding the surgery; although, one may comment that their personal choice would have been _______.

I defenitely agree with your comment . I just wanted to make sure that a long term (life-time) self-dialation can be a option ? If someone don't wanna take risks of operations..

I mean .. Is it possible practically ? Please give right suggestion and if not sure ask your doctor ? Its just a humble request because I think more and more doctors from all over the world we consult the better outcome we can have ..

The answer is "it depends". Sometimes strictures stop progressing for whatever reason. It this is the case then DVIU and self cath can bean option. However, if the stricture continues to progress after a failed DVIU (which does happen), the at some point the urethra may close completely and require another surgery.

I read in one forum where an older Brittish gentleman had a DVIU every 2 years and self cathed

But in my case Stricture don't comes back until I do self-dialation .

How long the old-man have been doing this?

I don't recall that the old man said specifically. You'd really have to poke around the different forums and try to find the post. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

what were your early symptoms of the urethral stricture? did you urinate a lot? any discomfort/irritation in the urethra?

i pee almost every 20 mins and have irritation in in my urethra i think it may be a stricture due to my several catheterizations... from what ive read strictures get worse over time and am wondering if i may be showings signs of strictures already that wont present a significant problem until later when i possibly wont be able to void due to closure of the urinary tract from an increasinfly growing stricture.

please help,

schuyler