Preliminary results of a new surgical technique: bladder mucosal graft harvested with holmium:YAG (HO:YAG) laser. A new option in bulbar replacement urethroplasty?

Abstract

Objective: To describe the technique of transurethral harvesting of bladder mucosal graft using the Holmium:YAG (Ho-YAG) laser and describe the preliminary results from 7 cases where this graft was used for urethroplasty. Materials and Methods: We performed a single-stage dorsal onlay urethroplasty using bladder mucosal graft in 7 patients with anterior urethral stricture. Transurethral harvesting was performed with the Ho-YAG laser. We performed a prospective and descriptive analysis with uroflowmetry performed at 30, 90 and 180 days after surgery and applied the PROM translated into Portuguese before and 6 months after urethroplasty. Results: Seven patients were included, 2 (28.5%) with penile urethral stricture, and 5 (71.5%) with bulbar urethral stricture. Mean stricture length was 50mm (range 35-60mm). Stricture etiology was trauma in 3 (42.9%) patients, iatrogenic in 1 (14.3%) patient, and idiopathic in 3 (42.9%) patients. Two patients (28.6%) had previously undergone ventral buccal mucosa urethroplasty. Mean bladder mucosal graft length was 52.86mm (± 13.801), and mean harvest time was 46.43min (± 14.639). Dorsal onlay urethroplasty using bladder mucosa was successfully completed in 5 patients (71.4%). Two patients (28.6%) couldn't have the procedure completed using bladder mucosa, one due to thermal damage of the graft during harvesting, and one due to insufficient graft length. In both cases the procedure was completed using buccal mucosa. Two patients (28.6%) experienced minor hematuria between the twelfth and eighteenth postoperative day, but neither required hospitalization and/or additional procedures. All patients achieved normalization of peak flow, and this was maintained throughout the follow-up period. Mean peak flow was 17.8 ml/s (± 3.271) at 30 days, 20.6 ml/s (± 5.413) at 90 days, and 19.6 ml/s (± 8.019) 180 days. Mean IPSS score decreased from 19.3 to 5.4. Similar improvements were also seen in the ICIQ-MLUTS Score (a mean drop from 3.8 to 2.0) and Peeling's Voiding Picture Score (a mean drop from 4.0 to 2.2). Quality of Life improved post urethroplasty, with increases in EQ-5D (from 0.6371 to 0.7285) and EQ-VAS (from 58.0 to 84.0). Conclusion: Transurethral harvesting of bladder mucosa using the Holmium laser (Ho-YAG) is feasible and reproducible. Our preliminary experience suggests that bladder mucosa grafts achieve comparable results to other grafts when used for dorsal onlay urethroplasty. Further research is needed to confirm these results.

Brazilian portuguese validation of the patient-reported outcome measure for urethral stricture surgery (USS-PROM) questionnaire

“…The assessment of surgical outcomes in urethroplasties has undergone a significant shift in recent years, expanding its focus beyond the traditional medical-clinical perspective of restoring urinary flow without the need for additional procedures. Nowadays, it also considers the patients’ perspective regarding therapeutic outcomes ( 6 , 24 – 26 ). Since 2011, Jackson et al enabled a more comprehensive analysis of patients with urethral stricture after creating and validating the USSPROM, the first questionnaire specifically validated for evaluating patients with urethral stricture before and after urethroplasty.…”

A new option in the treatment of erectile dysfunction highligheted in International Brazilian Journal of Urology

“…Dr. Westin and collegues from Brazil permorfed on page 501 ( 9 ) a nice report about a new surgical technique: bladder mucosal graft harvested with holmium: YAG (HO:YAG) laser - A new option in bulbar replacement urethroplasty and concluded that Transurethral harvesting of bladder mucosa using the Holmium laser (Ho-YAG) is feasible and reproducible. Our preliminary experience suggests that bladder mucosa grafts achieve comparable results to other grafts when used for dorsal onlay urethroplasty.…”