Post Greenlight for Prostate 9 months

Did your urologist say why strictures might be connected with HoLep procedure?   Are strictures associated with laser procedures than with cold knife TURP?   If so, patients deserve to know that.  In my case, I ended up with strictures after GreenLight.  My urologist didn't tell me that I had strictures when I kept coming back bemoaning the fact that I had sever in continence that required 8 to 10 heavy pads or depends each day.  He just referred me to physical therapists in his practice, and nothing got better after several months.  It was only when I went to another urologist in another city that I learned that I have strictures that are long and involve the area of the sphincter.  I assume that the scar tissue where the urethra passes through the sphincter causes the constant leakage.   After over 18 months post GreenLight, I am still highly incontinent.  Oh,...the first doctor said he wouldn't consider having something done, like an AUS, for at least a year after the GL procedure.  I recently found that in the state where I live, there is a one year statue of limitations for medical injury claim.   

Any inflammation of urethra can result in scarring, which then can lead to a stricture or a narrowing of the urethra. Trauma, infection, tumors, surgeries, or any other cause of scarring may lead to urethral narrowing or stricture. Mechanical narrowing of the urethra without scar formation (developmental causes or prostate enlargement) can also narrow the urethra.

The following are common causes of scarring or narrowing of the urethra:

Trauma from injury or accidents with damage to the urethra or bladder (for example, falling on a frame of a bicycle between the legs, or a car accident), straddle injuries

Pelvic injury (fracture of the pelvic bones) or trauma

Previous procedures involving the urethra (urinary catheters, surgeries, cystoscopy)

Previous prostate surgery (TURP or transurethral resection of the prostate for prostate enlargement, radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer)

Prostate enlargement

Cancer of the urethra (rare)

Infections of the urethra (sexually transmitted diseases or STDs, urethritis, gonorrhea, chlamydia)

Prostate infection or inflammation (prostatitis)

Previous hypospadias surgery (a congenital birth defect in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside of the penis instead of the tip)

Congenital malformations of the urethra, which rarely can cause urethral stricture in children

Brachytherapy (placement of radiation seeds into the prostate) for prostate cancer

Congenital malformations of the urethra, which rarely can cause urethral stricture in children

Brachytherapy (placement of radiation seeds into the prostate) for prostate cancer

Diaper-related irritation to the urethral meatus (opening at the tip of the penis)

Inflammatory conditions such as lichen sclerosus, Reiter's syndrome

According to one study, about one-half of causes of urethral stricture are from medical procedures and manipulation of the urethra or nearby structures (surgeries, catheter insertion, etc.). In about one-third of cases, no identifiable cause was found.

The only one of those possible causes I can attribute my incontinence to is the GL procedure, or the subsequent catherization, since I had no stricture before the GL was done.   I was just wondering if the GL procedure had a greater risk than a cold knife TURP procedure.  I haven't seen any data to answer that question.