Endoscopic Treatment of Vesicourethral Stenosis after Radical Prostatectomy: Outcomes and Predictors of Success

PurposeWe describe patency outcomes and predictors of success for the endoscopic treatment of vesicourethral stenosis after radical prostatectomy.Materials and MethodsA retrospective review identified 142 patients who underwent endoscopic treatment for vesicourethral stenosis after radical prostatectomy during a 10-year period. Clinical parameters examined were treatment modality, prior endoscopic treatment, age, concurrent radiotherapy, body mass index 35 kg/m2 or greater, diabetes and smoking. The primary outcome measure was absence of stenosis (less than 16Fr) on followup cystoscopy. Treatment modalities were divided into 5 groups of holmium laser incision, cold knife incision, electrocautery incision, dilation or UroLume® stent. Descriptive statistics as well as univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed.ResultsA total of 142 patients required 292 endoscopic treatments for a mean of 2.1 treatments per patient. The success rate of a single endoscopic treatment was 44.2%. However, 91% of the patients were ultimately treated successfully with endoscopic measures with a mean followup of 9.7 months. On multivariate analysis treatment modality (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.52–0.80, p <0.001), prior failed treatment (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74–0.99, p=0.04) and smoking (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.34–0.97, p=0.04) were associated with failure, while age (p=0.85), diabetes (p=0.25), radiotherapy (p=0.68) and body mass index 35 kg/m2 or greater (p=0.92) were not. Compared to holmium laser incision all modalities except UroLume were associated with treatment failure.ConclusionsMost patients with vesicourethral stenosis after radical prostatectomy are treated successfully with endoscopic modalities but often require multiple procedures. Unlike anterior urethral strictures, in this specific scenario the use of repeat endoscopic treatments appears justified. Holmium laser incision may be more successful compared to other endoscopic modalities.