Diagnosis and treatment of urethral stricture in men with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction: A systematic review.

AIM

To summarize available data focused on diagnosis and management of urethral stricture in men with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction by a systematic review of the literature.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A systematic review of the literature was carried out through an extensive electronic database search performed in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus databases for full texts, and International Continence Society, American Urology Association, and European Association of Urology abstracts for citations related to urethral structure. This review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 316 articles were identified, 48 of which were selected for this review. Different strategies are currently being used for the management of urethral strictures, such as clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) which reduces stricture by up to 68%; direct vision internal urethrotomy which shows lower rates of renarrowing; urethroplasty which shows a success rate up to 70%; urinary diversion is the treatment of choice when reconstruction is not possible.

CONCLUSIONS

Further studies are needed in this population because of the heterogeneity of the outcomes and the lack of a standardized definition and classification of this population.