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When in acute urinary retention, treatment of the urethral stricture or diversion is an emergency. Options include:
- Urethral dilatation and catheter placement. This can be performed in the Emergency Department, a practitioner's office or an operating room. The advantage of this approach is that the urethra may remain patent for a period of time after the dilation, though long-term success rates are low.
- Insertion of a suprapubic catheter with catheter drainage system. This procedure is performed in an Operating Room, Emergency Department or practitioner's office. The advantage of this approach is that it does not disrupt the scar and interfere with future definitive surgery.
A permanent urethral stent was approved for use in men with bulbar urethral strictures in 1996, but was recently removed from the market.
A temporary thermoexpandable urethral stent (Memotherm) is available in Europe, but is not currently approved for use in the United States.
Permanent stents are often metal coils, which are inserted into the male urethra. The braided mesh is designed to expand radially, applying constant gentle pressure to hold open the sections of the urethra that obstruct the flow of urine. The open, diamond-shape cell design of the stent allows the stent to eventually become embedded in the urethra, thus minimizing the risk for encrustation and migration. Permanent stents are used to relieve urinary obstructions secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), recurrent bulbar urethral stricture (RBUS), or detrusor external sphincter dyssynergia (DESD). The main motive for removal of permanent stents is worsening of symptoms even with device fitted. Other reasons have been migration, clot retention, hematuria, and urinary retention. The only FDA approved permanent stent is the Urolume. Usually, permanent stents are used only for men who are unwilling or unable to take medications or who are reluctant or unable to have surgery. Most doctors do not consider permanent stents a viable long-term treatment for most men.
Endoscopic injection involves applying a gel around the ureteral opening to create a valve function and stop urine from flowing back up the ureter. The gel consists of two types of sugar-based molecules called dextranomer and hyaluronic acid. Trade names for this combination include Deflux and Zuidex. Both constituents are well-known from previous uses in medicine. They are also biocompatible, which means that they do not cause significant reactions within the body. In fact, hyaluronic acid is produced and found naturally within the body.
Medical treatment entails low dose antibiotic prophylaxis until resolution of VUR occurs. Antibiotics are administered nightly at half the normal therapeutic dose. The specific antibiotics used differ with the age of the patient and include:
- Amoxicillin or ampicillin – infants younger than 6 weeks
- Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (co-trimoxazole) – 6 weeks to 2 months
After 2 months the following antibiotics are suitable:
- Nitrofurantoin {5–7 mg/kg/24hrs}
- Nalidixic acid
- Bactrim
- Trimethoprim
- Cephalosporins
Urine cultures are performed 3 monthly to exclude breakthrough infection. Annual radiological investigations are likewise indicated. Good perineal hygiene, and timed and double voiding are also important aspects of medical treatment. Bladder dysfunction is treated with the administration of anticholinergics.
Treatment of cervical stenosis involves opening or widening the cervical canal. The condition may improve on its own following the vaginal delivery of a baby.
Cervical canal widening can be termporarily achieved by the insertion of dilators into the cervix. If the stenosis is caused by scar tissue, a laser treatment can be used to vaporize the scarring.
Finally, the surgical enlargement of the cervical canal can be performed by hysteroscopic shaving of the cervical tissue.
A number of medications exist to treat incontinence including: fesoterodine, tolterodine and oxybutynin. While a number appear to have a small benefit, the risk of side effects are a concern. For every ten or so people treated only one will become able to control their urine and all medication are of similar benefit.
Medications are not recommended for those with stress incontinence and are only recommended in those who have urge incontinence who do not improve with bladder training.
A pessary is a medical device that is inserted into the vagina. The most common kind is ring shaped, and is typically recommended to correct vaginal prolapse. The pessary compresses the urethra against the symphysis pubis and elevates the bladder neck. For some women this may reduce stress leakage, however it is not clear how well these mechanical devices help women with stress urinary incontinence. If a pessary is used, vaginal and urinary tract infections may occur and regular monitoring by a doctor is recommended.
Surgery may be used to help stress or overflow incontinence. Common surgical techniques for stress incontinence include slings, tension-free vaginal tape, and bladder suspension among others. Urodynamic testing seems to confirm that surgical restoration of vault prolapse can cure motor urge incontinence. In those with problems following prostate surgery there is little evidence regarding the use of surgery.
Brief doses of electrical stimulation can strengthen muscles in the lower pelvis in a way similar to exercising the muscles. Electrodes are temporarily placed in the vagina or rectum to stimulate nearby muscles. This can stabilize overactive muscles and stimulate contraction of urethral muscles.
Clinical research published in the British Medical Journal compared pelvic floor exercises, vaginal weights and electro-stimulation in a randomised trial. The research recommended that pelvic floor exercise should be the first choice of treatment for genuine stress incontinence because simple exercises proved to be far more effective than electro-stimulation or vaginal cones.
This situation was confirmed in a comprehensive review of the treatment of stress incontinence published in the British Journal of Urology International in 2010. The report author noted that electrical stimulation devices and weighted vaginal cones are not recommended by the UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and "are not universally advocated by clinicians as they have yet to produce sufficient evidence of efficacy".
The primary treatment for urethral diverticulum is surgical. The surgery is conducted transvaginally, usually when there is no acute inflammation to better aid dissection of the delicate tissues.
The treatment depends on the cause. Medications may work for retrograde ejaculation but only in a few cases. Surgery rarely is the first option for retrograde ejaculation and the results have proven to be inconsistent. Medications do not help retrograde ejaculation if there has been permanent damage to the prostate or the testes from radiation. Medications also do not help if prostate surgery has resulted in damage to the muscles or nerves. Medications only work if there has been mild nerve damage caused by diabetes, multiple sclerosis or mild spinal cord injury.
Paraphimosis can be avoided by bringing the foreskin back into its normal, forward, non-retracted position after retraction is no longer necessary (for instance, after cleaning the glans penis or placing a Foley catheter). Phimosis (both pathologic and normal childhood physiologic forms) is a risk factor for paraphimosis; "physiologic" phimosis resolves naturally as a child matures, but it may be advisable to treat "pathologic" phimosis via long-term stretching or elective surgical techniques (such as preputioplasty to loosen the preputial orifice or circumcision to amputate the foreskin tissue partially or completely).
The foreskin responds to the application of tension to cause expansion by creating new skin cells though the process of mitosis. The tissue expansion is permanent. Non-surgical stretching of the foreskin may be used to widen a narrow, non-retractable foreskin. Stretching may be combined with the use of a steroid cream. Beaugé recommends manual stretching for young males in preference to circumcision as a treatment for non-retractile foreskin because of the preservation of sexual sensation.
Paraphimosis can often be effectively treated by manual manipulation of the swollen foreskin tissue. This involves compressing the glans and moving the foreskin back to its normal position, perhaps with the aid of a lubricant, cold compression, and local anesthesia as necessary. If this fails, the tight edematous band of tissue can be relieved surgically with a dorsal slit or circumcision. An alternative method, the Dundee technique, entails placing multiple punctures in the swollen foreskin with a fine needle, and then expressing the edema fluid by manual pressure. According to Ghory and Sharma, treatment by circumcision may be elected as "a last resort, to be performed by a urologist". Other experts recommend delaying elective circumcision until after paraphimosis has been resolved.
These medications tighten the bladder neck muscles and prevent semen from going backwards into the bladder. However, the medications do have many side effects and they have to be taken at least 1–2 hours prior to sexual intercourse. In many cases, the medications fail to work at the right time because most men are not able to predict when they will have an orgasm.
In a small minority of cases of urethral syndrome, treatment with antibiotics is effective, which indicates that in some cases it may be caused by bacterial infection which does not show up in either urinalysis or urine culture. For chronic urethral syndrome, a long term, low-dose antibiotic treatment is given on a continuous basis or after intercourse each time if intercourse appears to trigger symptoms.
As low oestrogen may also be considered a source for urethral syndrome, hormone replacement therapy, and oral contraceptive pill (birth-control pills) containing oestrogen are also used to treat the symptoms of this condition in women.
At the present time, there is one temporary prostatic stent that has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. The Spanner
temporary prostatic stent maintains urine flow and allows natural voluntary urination. The prostatic stent is a completely internal device and can be inserted and removed as easily as a Foley catheter. It permits normal bladder and sphincter functioning and can be worn comfortably by patients. The temporary prostatic stent is typically used to help patients maintain urine flow after procedures that cause prostatic swelling, such as brachytherapy, cryotherapy, TUMT, TURP. It has also become an effective differential diagnostic tool for identifying poor bladder function separate from prostatic obstruction.
If suspected antenatally, a consultation with a paediatric surgeon/ paediatric urologist maybe indicated to evaluate the risk and consider treatment options.
Treatment is by endoscopic valve ablation. Fetal surgery is a high risk procedure reserved for cases with severe oligohydramnios, to try to limit the associated lung underdevelopment, or pulmonary hypoplasia, that is seen at birth in these patients. The risks of fetal surgery are significant and include limb entrapment, abdominal injury, and fetal or maternal death. Specific procedures for "in utero" intervention include infusions of amniotic fluid, serial bladder aspiration, and creating a connection between the amniotic sac and the fetal bladder, or vesicoamniotic shunt.
There are three specific endoscopic treatments of posterior urethral valves:
- Vesicostomy followed by valve ablation - a stoma, or hole, is made in the urinary bladder, also known as "low diversion", after which the valve is ablated and the stoma is closed.
- Pyelostomy followed by valve ablation - stoma is made in the pelvis of the kidney as a slightly "high diversion", after which the valve is ablated and the stoma is closed
- Primary (transurethral) valve ablation - the valve is removed through the urethra without creation of a stoma
The standard treatment is primary (transurethral) ablation of the valves. Urinary diversion is used in selected cases, and its benefit is disputed.
Following surgery, the follow-up in patients with posterior urethral valve syndrome is long term, and often requires a multidisciplinary effort between paediatric surgeons/ paediatric urologists, pulmonologists, neonatologists, radiologists and the family of the patient. Care must be taken to promote proper bladder compliance and renal function, as well as to monitor and treat the significant lung underdevelopment that can accompany the disorder. Definitive treatment may also be indicated for the vesico-ureteral reflux.
Left untreated, urethral diverticulum can cause significant morbidity (sickness).
During surgery, there is a risk for complications due to the highly vascular nature of the tissue. The urethral sphincters and its smooth muscle, as well as the neck of the bladder, can be injured regardless of the surgical approach. Other complications from surgery can include urinary incontinence, stress incontinence, a urethrovaginal fistula, or recurrent diverticula. Horseshoe-shaped diverticula and diverticula that completely surround the urethra are both associated with worse outcomes, as are those located close to the bladder, and large (over 3–4 cm) diverticula.
Bethanechol (Management of overflow incontinence by activating muscarinic receptors in the bladder and stimulating contraction to void the urine, NOT a treatment modality; must rule out urinary obstruction prior to use.)
If an incontinence is due to overflow incontinence, in which the bladder never empties completely, or if the bladder cannot empty because of poor muscle tone, past surgery, or spinal cord injury, a catheter may be used to empty the bladder. A catheter is a tube that can be inserted through the urethra into the bladder to drain urine. Catheters may be used once in a while or on a constant basis, in which case the tube connects to a bag that is attached to the leg. If a long-term (or indwelling) catheter is used, urinary tract infections may occur.
After diagnosing rectovaginal fistula, it is best to wait for around 3 months to allow the inflammation to subside. For low fistulae, a vaginal approach is best, while an abdominal repair would be necessary for a high fistula at the posterior fornix.
A circular incision is made around the fistula and vagina is separated from the underlying rectum with a sharp circumferential dissection. The entire fistulous tract, along with a small rim of rectal mucosa is incised. The rectal wall is then closed extramucosally.
Most rectovaginal fistuals will need surgery to fix. Medications such as antibiotics and Infliximab might be prescribed to help close the rectovaginal fistula or prepare for surgery.
In females, meatal stenosis can usually be treated in the physician's office using local anesthesia to numb the area and dilating (widening) the urethral opening with special instruments.
In boys, it is treated by a second surgical procedure called meatotomy in which the meatus is crushed with a straight mosquito hemostat and then divided with fine-tipped scissors. Recently, home-dilatation has been shown to be a successful treatment for most boys.
The main treatment for isolated epispadias is a comprehensive surgical repair of the genito-urinary area usually during the first 7 years of life, including reconstruction of the urethra, closure of the penile shaft and mobilisation of the corpora. The most popular and successful technique is known as the modified Cantwell-Ransley approach. In recent decades however increasing success has been achieved with the complete penile disassembly technique despite its association with greater and more serious risk of damage.
The type of injury dictates the treatment; however, surgery is a common treatment. Catheterization is usually a part of treatment for penis injuries; when the urethra is intact, urethral catheterization may be used, but if it has been injured, suprapubic catheterization is used. Some injuries, including animal bites, are also treated with antibiotics, irrigation, and rabies prophylaxis.
Penile color duplex doppler ultrasound can help with preoperative planning to minimize bulbar necrosis.
Botulinum A toxin is a valuable alternative for patients who do not want surgical methods.