Urethral dilation with cystoscopy - male 26

ei Kell, a quick one have you had a 1 or 2 stages urethroplasty ?

in those years how many surgeries done for manage this problem !

I have only had surgery one time, May 2018.

there hasnt been any mention of a laser. i thought dilation was just using rods to stretch out the urethra. if he finds the stricture during the surgery would he use the laser?

first they dilate your stricture if it work then good second they cut the stricture int cystoscope there is little nife or laser no pain ! there success rate is 20 % good for short stricture last and reliable cure is urethroplasty

He didnt mention a cause other than theorizing that it could have been from my appendectomy. Or the catheter placement

cysto will give a clear idea to your Dr. of what s going on inside, is a 10mins procedure depending if they include dilation, recov is super fast, a bit of stinging burning while voiding, more frequency for just a few days, just drink lots of fluids

correction:

my question is before you go for any dilatations, do you happen to know how long is your stricture?

No clue about the length of the stricture. The doc wasn't able to get his camera in there so he's kind of in the dark about it.

Since you already know that you have urethral stricture, from my experience, i would suggest you to go for RUG (Retrogade Urethrogram) test in the first place which is fairly easy procedure if the doctor is good. It is very important diagnosis test for strictures in men and this test have capability to reveal the approx. location and length of the stricture. I have been told by my doctors that dilatations are not good practice because while you try to open the existing stricture, it has fairly less to good chances of causing another stricture somewhere in the good part of urethra also.

Now once you get to know the length then( assuming you got your stricture through an injury, if not let us know the cause) go for DVIU procedure (for less stricture length) or urethroplasty surgery (for longer stricture). DVIU may take 5-7 days recovery and urethroplasty can take anywhere between 3-6 weeks depending on your recovery.

Ask your doctor all the questions you may have before any procedure such as advantages and disadvantages and take decision. Reason being, good diagnosis at first place will be very helpful and can give positive results.

BTW where are you from?

I'm from the midwest in the United States. The RUG procedure was never brought up. Possibly because he was unsure if he could get the catheter needed in place.

I would be extremely frustrated if this dilation procedure ended up causing more damage than it helps. The doctor definitely didn't exude confidence.

I appreciate all of you responding. I know I need to do something as my bladder is not emptying anywhere near normal levels. And persistent UTIs have been miserable. I just hope there is no damage done to my manhood that would prevent me from having a normal life.

for RUG they do not need any catheters to be placed inside penis. they will put a tube at tip of your penis for x ray fluid to fill in and then they take x rays. that will show where exactly the narrowing is in your urethra. This procedure gives good xray images if your stricture is from tip of penis till bulbar area. if your stricture is beyond that region then a VCUG test is good choice. However, for VCUG they require the catheter to get into your bladder so that they can fill up your bladder and then take x ray images while you are peeing. If you are able to pee now then may be making a small hole in bladder (under stomach) and placing suprapubic catheter and filling your bladder with x ray fluid and then taking pictures while peeing is good choice ( this is my opinion only and i am not a doctor but a patient telling this from my experience). (dont worry the hole will close in couple of days and you wont have much pain). Because this way you dont need any catheters in your penis to fill your bladder. moreover, since you already know that a stricture is present in your urethra then any catheter placing in your urethra will only cause you more pain.

I suggest you to check with your doctor for all options before going for any dilatations. i had done same mistake when i had found this problem. i havent enquired much and went for a DVIU procedure (although failed) where they cut stricture with cold knife. The doctor who performed my DVIU did not tell me any of these options. He just mentioned that only during DVIU he will be able to check length of urethra that got affected. However, in real, doctors should perform any procedure only after knowing approx length of the stricture before hand to make right choice of whether the patient is suitable for DVIU or urethroplasty directly depending on the length of stricture.

When i had DVIU doctor said mine is about 3-4cms of stricture. But when my other docotor performed urethroplasty my stricture lenghth was 4.5 cms. So the DVIU only increased my stricture because it should not have been performed in the first place because my stricture length is more. This only happened because i do not know what my stricture length during initial diagnosis and hence causing DVIU to fail.

anyways i had shared my experience and knowledge with you and its upto you to take right choice and go.

Thank you for your lengthy reply. Hearing other's experiences helps for perspective. So this upcoming Monday I have a CT Urogram. It sounds like a different way to achieve the RUG test. I guess they send something through veins in this particular procedure.

Hopefully that will show the stricture to the doc but I'm unsure. I'm hesitant to halt the cystoscopy/dilation plan and just hope for the best. The alternative (urethroplasty) would require me to travel and the recovery time sounds rough. Hopefully it won't come to that.