Endoscopic holmium laser harvesting of bladder mucosal graft for urethroplasty: retrospective analysis of single center preliminary results.

Abstract

Purpose: Urethral stricture disease (USD) incidence is estimated to be as high as 0.6-1.2%. In 2022, it was published that the bladder mucosal graft to be used in urethroplasty can be obtained endoscopically with a holmium laser. We aimed to present our single center graft urethroplasty results obtained with the endoscopic holmium laser harvesting of bladder mucosal graft technique.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the results of patients who underwent bladder mucosal graft (BlMG) urethroplasty by single surgeon at our center hospital between December 2022 and May 2023.

Results: A total of 14 patients underwent BlMG urethroplasty surgery. Of them 8 were male and 6 were female patients. The mean patient age was 53 (range 26-76) years. The mean length of stricture was 4,35 (range 1-11) cm. The maximum postoperative flow rate was < 10 ml/sec in three of the 14 patients.

Conclusion: To our knowledge this is the first study investigating the preliminary results of substitution urethroplasties that is performed with bladder mucosal grafts harvested with laser energy via transurethral (endoscopic) route. Though more work is needed to better understand its current role in complex urethral reconstruction, our patient cohort will be a niche for further studies.