Experience With Ventral Penile Skin Island Flap urethroplasty

Background :Island flap techniques currently used in urethroplasty utilize the prepuce and the dorsal penile skin. Our experience with a one-stage island flap urethroplasty for urethral strictures utilizing the ventral penile skin is described. Patients and Method : This is a longitudinal study of seventy six consecutive patients with impassable and complicated urethral strictures treated using this technique over a seven-year period. Sixty were bulbous while sixteen were bulbomembranous urethral strictures. Following operation the patients were assessed using urine flow rates, urethrograms and some urethroscopy. Restrictures were successfully reoperated. Results : Sixty-eight patients (89.5%) had satisfactory voiding with good urine stream without complication at one year after operation. Five patients (6.6%) had restricture and three (3.9%) others had urethral bagginess and postmicturition dribbling. The overall complication rate was 10.5%. At three years after initial operation and reoperation seventy-five patients (98.7%) were voiding satisfactorily. There was one complete failure, no death. Conclusion : This technique has produced satisfactory results compared with other similar techniques in current use. Further work is required to make valid conclusions about the value of this procedure.