The artificial urethral sphincter (AUS) is the gold standard treatment in cases of moderate-to-severe stress urinary incontinence in males. Cuff erosions are one of the most important distant complications of AUS implantation. The optimal urethral management has still not been established.
Search terms related to 'urethral stricture', 'artificial urinary sphincter', and 'cuff erosion' were used in the PubMed database to identify relevant articles.
In this mini review we identified 6 original articles that assessed the urethral management after AUS explantation due to cuff erosion and included urinary diversion by transurethral and/or suprapubic catheterization, urethrorrhaphy, and in situ urethroplasty. We summarized the results of different management methods and their efficacy in terms of preventing urethral stricture formation. We highlight the need for better-quality evidence on this topic.
The available data do not provide a clear answer to the question of optimal urethral management during AUS explantation. There is a great need to provide higher-quality evidence on this topic.
Central European journal of urology. 2023 Nov 08 [Epub]
Łukasz Białek, Mikołaj Frankiewicz, Jan Adamowicz, Felix Campos-Juanatey, Andrea Cocci, Guglielmo Mantica, Clemens M Rosenbaum, Wesley Verla, Marjan Waterloos, Malte W Vetterlein
Department of Urology, Centre for Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw, Poland., Department of Urology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland., Department of Regenerative Medicine, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland., Andrology and Reconstructive Urology Unit, Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital, School of Medicine, Cantabria University, IDIVAL, Santander, Spain., Department of Urology and Andrology, Careggi Hospital, University of Florence, Florence, Italy., Department of Surgical and Diagnostic Integrated Sciences (DISC), University of Genova, Genova, Italy., Department of Urology, Asklepios Hospital Barmbek, Hamburg, Germany., Department of Urology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium., Department of Urology, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.