What is urethral stricture? What are the symptoms and treatment

The urethra is a thin pipe that carries urine. It starts from the bladder and ends to the urinary hole, so the urine can be flushed out the body. Normally, the urethra is wide enough to pass urine, but due to some reason, the narrowing of urethra restrict the flow of the urine smoothly in the canal. This is known as urethral stricture. If you think of having a thorough check-up for this, it will be much better to consult a Urologist in Bangalore.

What is urethral stricture?

The shrinking of the urethra is known as urethral stricture, which is caused due to the presence of scar tissue or tissue inflammation in the urethra. Men with penile implants and boys with hypospadias surgery have more chances of getting urethral stricture. 

There are several causes of urethral stricture, they are described below.

●       Straddle injuries

●       Getting hit at an area close to the scrotum

●       Catheter insertion

●       Prostate surgery

●       Benign prostatic hyperplasia

●       Pelvic fractures

●       A tumour close to the urethra

●       Infections like gonorrhea or chlamydia caused by sexually transmitted disease

●       Repeated and untreated urinary tract infections

What are the symptoms of Urethral Stricture?

The main symptom of urethral stricture is a weakened urinary system. There are also other symbols that indicate to the urethral stricture. The person with urethral stricture faces many issues, such as difficulty, pain and straining while urinating, urinary tract infection, more frequent urination with an increased urge of urinating, decreased uring stream, incomplete bladder emptying, Prostatitis etc. In case of severe urethral stricture, the person becomes totally impaired to urinating, which is referred as acute urinary retention and also may cause Hydronephrosis and renal failure. Just under the bladder, the urethra is surrounded by the prostate, so there is a chance of prostate inflammation or infection, which is medically termed as Prostatitis. This prostatitis can be cured with proper medications and treatment.

What are the Treatments of Urethral Stricture?

The first part of any treatment is a proper diagnosis. In order to diagnose the disease properly the doctor will ask about the problems or symptoms that the person is having. Department of Urology care at Fortis hospital is one of the best hospital in bangalore provides treatments for all kinds of urological problems.To be more certain, there are some diagnosis techniques. That are described below.

Urethroscopy: A thin lighted scope is inserted into the urethra to check whether the urethral stricture is present or not.

Imaging studies: In order to view the urethra and surrounding structure ultrasound, MRI scans, CT scans are reliable.

Retrograde urethrogram: A special contract tie is inserted through the tip of the penis and the doctor keep a track of its flowing with the help of a fluoroscopic X-ray.

After the proper diagnosis, the doctor will start the treatment or medications. The treatments are

Dilation: In this process of treatment, the doctor inserts a special device to enlarge the urethra. In most of the cases, the doctors consider this as an initial step. It is effective for both male and female.

Urethrotomy: In this process, the stricture is surgically cut with the help of scalpel with urethroscopic guidance or with a special laser.

Open surgical removal: This is the extreme level of treatment. Using grafts or other reconstructive procedures on the urethra the stricture is surgically removed. It is the most invasive way to treat urethral stricture.

Urethral stricture mostly happens with the males. So make sure you are choosing the right place for the treatment. It will be always good if you make yourself check-up at best urology hospital in Bangalore if you are facing any of the symptoms mentioned above.