Urethral fistula repair

  A young man underwent urethral fistula repair, and this was the patient’s third urethral repair, and he was discharged.  The patient was 17 years old and came to our hospital a month ago for urethral fistula. The patient had undergone urethroplasty for hypospadias five years ago and developed a urethral fistula after the surgery. He had two unsuccessful attempts to repair the fistula at provincial hospitals, which caused great stress to the patient and his family. After discussion in the department, Associate Professor Zhang Dongqing and attending physician Zhou Changhuang decided to perform a third urethral fistula repair. Considering the patient’s history of multiple surgeries, severe local scarring and poor blood flow, it was easy to fail the surgery again, and the patient, unlike children, had more urethral secretions, which also increased the risk of surgical failure. During the operation, the scar was fully excised, fine suturing was performed, and the risk of urethral stricture was risked, and urethral tubeless treatment was performed. The patient recovered well after the operation and was discharged from the hospital.  In the same period, the department performed posterior urethral anastomosis + partial chisel removal of the pubic bone for a patient with complex urethral stricture. The patient had undergone pelvic fracture fixation and posterior urethral anastomosis in a local hospital due to trauma, and still had difficulty in urination after surgery. Firstly, ultrasound-guided suprapubic cystostomy was given to control urinary tract infection. Later, urethrography and flexible microscopy were performed, which confirmed the posterior urethral stricture with pseudo-tract formation. After departmental discussion, it was decided to perform posterior urethral anastomosis again. During the operation, the proximal end of the urethral stricture segment was repeatedly confirmed by the flexible microscope through the cystostomy to avoid entering the pseudo-tract. The urethral stricture segment was long, about 3 cm, and the scar was severe, which made the anastomosis difficult, so the scar was thoroughly removed, attention was paid to protecting the rectum, and part of the pubic bone was chiseled away for tension-free urethral anastomosis. After surgery, the patient recovered well and urinated freely.  Common diseases of the urethra, including urethral stricture, hypospadias and urethral fistula, have been a difficult problem for urologists because of the high failure rate and many complications. Associate Professor Zhang Dongqing has successfully performed many complex urethral repair surgeries and carried out the first lingual mucosal replacement urethroplasty in the province, and has rich clinical experience.