A new urethral catheterisation device (UCD) to manage difficult urethral catheterisation.

The cost of urethral catheterisation injury (UCI) is significant, but the true incidence of patient care error is difficult to establish in the absence of specific hospital codes recording difficult urethral catheterisation (DUC) and UCI. For many years urologists are familiar passing a non-traumatic hydrophilic guidewire blindly into the bladder to aid urethral catheter insertion in difficult circumstances. However, so far, no purpose-built regulated medical device was available on the market and clinicians had to improvise. Urethrotech filled that gap and developed the Urethral Catheterisation Device (UCD®), which integrates a standard hydrophilic Nitinol guidewire into a 3-way 16F Silicone urethral catheter design to enable safe second-line urethral catheterisation when first-line catheterisation with a standard urethral catheter is unsuccessful. The safety and efficacy of UCD® catheterisation were evaluated in consecutive cohorts of men undergoing cardiac surgery and compared to the incidence of DUC and UCI with standard Foley catheterisation. A simple new Male Catheterisation Algorithm is proposed that can deliver a safe male urethral catheterisation treatment protocol for all clinical settings of healthcare services, which is easy to implement and integrate into standard catheterisation training programs to manage DUC and avoid UCI, empowering a frontline workforce to deliver better patient care.

["FlowSecure" artificial urinary sphincter: a new adjustable artificial urinary sphincter concept with conditional occlusion for stress urinary incontinence]. / Implantación del esfínter urinario artificial "FlowSecure" en uretra bulbar: descripción de la técnica quirúrgica paso a paso.

INTRODUCTION: We have implanted the FlowSecure artificial sphincter for the first time in October 2006. The prototype was originally conceived and designed by Professor Craggs M. D. and Professor Mundy A.R. Preliminary clinical results were reported in nine patients early this year. Our objective is to spread technique for surgical implantation. METHODS: Combined perineal and abdominal incisions are required for exposure of bulbar urethra, creation of a cavity in the para-vesical space and dissection of a pocket under de scrotal wall. A trocar with a stylet is routed from the abdominal incision to the perineal incision to pass the deflated cuff to the perineal site. The cuff is placed around the urethra and secured with Prolene sutures. After refilling the cuff, fluid is removed from the system until the stress relief balloon becomes just indented (atmospheric pressure 0). The pump is placed in the scrotum and the balloons in the paravesical space. RESULTS: We have implanted our first FlowSecure artificial sphincter in a patient with severe stress incontinence following a T.U.R.P. The surgical technique is simple and associated with little handling. He was discharged from hospital 4 days after the procedure and it was decided that pressurisation was unnecessary. DISCUSSION: Surgical implantation of the new FlowSecure artificial urinary sphincter is an easy procedure in males with stress urinary incontinence. Knigth et al. reported 30 to 40 minutes operating time, 4 days mean hospital stay and unnecessary pressurisation procedure in 3 out of their 9 patients. It seems that their results are reproducible.

["Flowsecure" artificial urinary sphincter: a new adjustable artificial urinary sphincter concept with conditional occlusion for stress urinary incontinence]. / Esfínter Urinario Artificial "FlowSecure": un nuevo concepto de esfínter artificial regulable y con oclusión condicional para la incontinencia urinaria de esfuerzo.

INTRODUCTION: To spread de concept of a new artificial urinary sphincter with conditional occlusion for stress incontinence. The new prototype was conceived and designed in The Institute of Urology and Nephrology of London by Professor Craggs M. and Professor Mundy A.R. METHODS: The FlowSecure sphincter consists of an adjustable pressure-regulating balloon, a stress relief reservoir, a control pump and valve assembly unit with self-sealing port and a urethral cuff. The pressure regulating balloon determinates de operating pressure of the device; the pressure is adjustable in the range 0-80 cm H2O and can be altered by injection or removal of normal saline through the self sealing port. The stress relief balloon transmits transient intrabdominal pressure to the cuff during periods of stress. An adjustable circular urethral cuff minimises creasing and possible stress fractures. RESULTS: The device is implanted as a one-piece assembly which is pre-filled with sterile saline. The surgical technique is simple and associated with little handling, reducing risk of infection and potential assembly errors. The adjustable pressure regulating balloon in association with the stress relief reservoir enables the cuff occluding pressure to be set at a low range, therefore reducing the risk for atrophy and erosion. DISCUSSION: The new FlowSecure urinary artificial sphincter with conditional occlusion is designed to provide good continence rates adjusting regulating pressures when needed and conceived to reduce the risk of potential complications associated with excessive occluding pressures and mechanical failures.

Implantación del Esfínter Urinario Artificial 'FlowSecure(TM') en uretra bulbar: Descripción de la técnica quirúrgica paso a paso / 'Flowsecure(TM)' artificial urinary sphincter: a new adjustable artificial urinary sphincter concept with conditional occlusion for stress urinary incontinence

Introducción: En Octubre de 2006 se implantó por primera vez en nuestra Institución el nuevo esfínter urinario artificial FlowSecure TM. El prototipo fue concebido y diseñado por los Profesores Craggs MD y Mundy AR y los resultados clínicos preliminares de 9 pacientes fueron publicados a mediados del 2006. Nuestro objetivo es el de difundir la descripción detallada de la técnica quirúrgica para la implantación de esta nueva prótesis. Materiales y métodos: Se requiere una incisión perineal para la exposición de la uretra bulbar y una abdominal para la creación de un espacio paravesical y de un bolsillo escrotal. Se coloca un trocar con un estilete desde la incisión abdominal a la perineal para pasar el manguito desinflado, que se ajusta a la uretra y se asegura con tres puntos de Prolene. Tras volver a llenar el manguito se extrae líquido hasta que se forma una muesca en el reservorio de asistencia al estrés, indicando que el sistema está a presión atmosférica 0. Se coloca entonces la bomba en el escroto y los reservorios en el espacio paravesical. Resultados: El esfínter fue colocado en un paciente con incontinencia de esfuerzo tras una RTU de próstata. La técnica es simple, el paciente se fue de alta al cuarto día y no fue necesario presurizar el sistema porque el paciente recuperó la continencia desde la retirada de la sonda. Discusión: La implantación en uretra bulbar es muy sencilla. Los resultados en este paciente concuerdan con los de Knigth et al., que describen tiempo quirúrgico de 30 a 40 minutos, media de estancia hospitalaria de 4 días y presurización innecesaria en tres de sus nueve pacientes. Parece que la técnica y los resultados son reproducibles

Introduction: We have implanted the FlowSecure artificial sphincter for the first time in October 2006. The prototype was originally conceived and designed by Professor Craggs M. D. and Professor Mundy A.R. Preliminary clinical results were reported in nine patients early this year. Our objective is to spread technique for surgical implantation. Methods: Combined perineal and abdominal incisions are required for exposure of bulbar urethra, creation of a cavity in the para-vesical space and dissection of a pocket under de scrotal wall. A trocar with a stylet is routed from the abdominal incision to the perineal incision to pass the deflated cuff to the perineal site. The cuff is placed around the urethra and secured with Prolene sutures. After refilling the cuff, fluid is removed from the system until the stress relief balloon becomes just indented (atmospheric pressure 0). The pump is placed in the scrotum and the balloons in the paravesical space. Results: We have implanted our first FlowSecure artificial sphincter in a patient with severe stress incontinence following a T.U.R.P. The surgical technique is simple and associated with little handling. He was discharged from hospital 4 days after the procedure and it was decided that pressurisation was unnecessary. Discussion: Surgical implantation of the new FlowSecure artificial urinary sphincter is an easy procedure in males with stress urinary incontinence. Knigth et al. reported 30 to 40 minutes operating time, 4 days mean hospital stay and unnecessary pressurisation procedure in 3 out of their 9 patients. It seems that their results are reproducible

[The role of low urethral mucosal and submucosal blood perfusion in patients with artificial urinary sphincters]. / Importancia de la integridad de la mucosa y submucosa uretral en la continencia de los pacientes con esfínteres urinarios artificiales.

INTRODUCTION: A common complication following insertion of a bulbar AUS is recurrent incontinence, and once other causes have been ruled out, a diagnosis of urethral atrophy is then made. Urethral atrophy probably occurs to a certain degree in all patients with an AUS but the reappearance of incontinence is often attributed to inadequate pressure transfer from the cuff to the atrophic urethra. The normal urethral closure mechanism depends also on passive forces which rely on the integrity of the urethral mucosa and submucosa. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two groups of patients with a first AUS implant which had been in place for more than 1 year were studied (n = 11). Group I consisted of continent patients (n(I) = 6) whereas Group II had significant incontinence due to urethral atrophy (n(II) = 5). Intraurethral pressures (IP) and blood flux (BF) were measured simultaneously with a micro-tip transducer and a laser Doppler flowmeter in each patient. Positional measurements were recorded proximal, within, and distal to the cuff first with the AUS deactivated and then activated. RESULTS: Group I patients exhibited similar IP and BF at all positions along the urethra. In Group II the IP was similar along the urethra but the BF within the cuff was qualitatively different (non pulsatile) and decreased significantly when compared to either side of the cuff during. DISCUSSION: Continence in patients with artificial urinary sphincters depends not only on the cuff occlusive force but is also dependent on the viability of the mucosal and submucosal tissues. For a given pressure range mucosal and submucosal blood perfusion is determinant. patients with normal blood perfusion would remain continent whereas patients with impaired perfusion would become incontinent.

Management of urethral strictures.

Controlled clinical trials are unusual in surgery, rare in urology, and almost non-existent as far as the management of urethral stricture is concerned. What data there are come largely from so called "expert opinion" and the quality of this is variable. None the less, the number of so called experts, past and present, is comparatively small and in broad principle their views more or less coincide. Although this review is therefore inevitably biased, it is unlikely that expert opinion will take issue with most of the general points raised here.

Three-dimensional MRI of the male urethrae with implanted artificial sphincters: initial results.

The aim of this study was to develop a method for simultaneous 3D visualization of a new type of artificial urethral sphincter (AUS) and adjacent urinary structures. Serial MR tomograms were acquired from seven men after AUS implantation. 3D reconstruction was performed by thresholding original (positive) and inverted (negative) image intensity and by subsequently fusing positive and negative images. Results show that the bladder, cuff and balloons of the AUS of originally high intensity were imaged in 3D by thresholding the positive datasets. The urethrae and corpora cavernosa penis of originally low intensity were displayed in 3D by thresholding the negative datasets. Fusion of the positive and negative datasets allowed simultaneous visualization of the AUS complex and adjacent urinary structures. All the structures of interest were also clearly seen by interactive multiplanar reformatting. Coronal tomographic datasets provided better 3D and reformatted 2D images than sagittal and transverse datasets. This technique offers a simple means for evaluating the complex urethral anatomy and the AUS, and has potential for improved 3D visualization of many other complex morphological and pathological conditions.

Standing the test of time: the long-term results of urethroplasty.

The principle indication for urethral surgery is stricture disease. There are a number of factors that influence the outcome of surgery including location of the stricture, stricture length, aetiology, previous surgery and selection of procedure. Outcomes for different techniques are summarised. The gold standard remains anastomotic urethroplasty, where appropriate, with patch urethroplasty or two-stage stage procedures for more complicated strictures especially the penile urethra.

Structural assessment of the urethral sphincter in women with urinary retention.

PURPOSE: The pathophysiology of urinary retention in women is generally unknown but a subgroup of women with urinary retention have been diagnosed as having so-called primary disorder of sphincter relaxation on the basis of an abnormal urethral sphincter electromyogram. It was suggested this sphincter overactivity could lead to work hypertrophy of the urethral rhabdosphincter and in this study we looked for any evidence of such muscle fiber hypertrophy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 9 women 18 to 45 years old (mean age 31.6) with urinary retention and overactive urethral sphincter electromyogram, light and electron microscopy were used to examine core needle biopsies of the urethral rhabdosphincter taken under transvaginal ultrasound control. Of the 9 patients only 5 biopsies processed for light microscopy and 4 processed for electron microscopy contained striated urethral muscle fibers. The results of these biopsies were compared to the morphology of a control specimen from a postmenopausal woman without a history of urinary retention. RESULTS: On light microscopy the urethral rhabdosphincter fiber diameter did not differ among patients (mean average 7.6 mum), was less than that reported in the literature (15 to 20), but did not differ from that of the control (mean 9.9). In all patients electron microscopy showed excessive peripheral sarcoplasm with lipid and glycogen deposition, and sarcoplasmic accumulation of normal mitochondria. These ultrastructural abnormalities were not seen in the control. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge this is the first morphological description of the urethral rhabdosphincter in a subgroup of women with urinary retention. Mean rhabdosphincter fiber diameter was approximately the same in patients and controls. This study does not support the previous theory that urethral sphincter overactivity in a subgroup of women with urinary retention leads to work hyperplasia of urethral rhabdosphincter fibers. An alternative hypothesis is suggested.

The morbidity of buccal mucosal graft harvest for urethroplasty and the effect of nonclosure of the graft harvest site on postoperative pain.

PURPOSE: We assess the medium and long-term morbidity of buccal mucosal graft (BMG) harvest for urethroplasty, and evaluate the effect of nonclosure of the graft harvest site on postoperative pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to 110 men who underwent BMG urethroplasty between January 1, 1997 and August 31, 2002. Demographic data and side effects of BMG harvest, including oral pain, sensation and intake, were assessed postoperatively. A prospective study was then performed to compare 20 unselected men whose BMG donor site was closed with a group of 20 men in whom it was left open using a 5-point analog pain score that was completed twice daily for the first 5 postoperative days. RESULTS: A total of 49 men with a median age of 49 years (range 23 to 73) returned questionnaires relating to 57 BMG harvests. Of the graft harvests 47 (83%) were associated with postoperative pain, which was worse than expected in 24 (51%). Of the 57 patients 51 (90%) resumed oral liquid intake within 24 hours and 44 (77%) resumed normal diet within 1 week. Postoperative side effects included perioral numbness in 39 (68%) patients with 15 (26%) having residual numbness after 6 months, initial difficulty with mouth opening in 38 (67%) with 5 (9%) having persistent problems, changes in salivation in 6 (11%) and mucous retention cyst that required excision in 1 (2%). The men in the prospective donor site study had a median age of 51 years (range 24 to 70). Mean pain score for patients with donor site closure was 3.68 and was significantly higher than that for patients without donor site closure (2.26, p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Buccal mucosal graft harvest is not a pain-free procedure. Closure of the harvest donor site appears to worsen this pain and it may be best to leave harvest sites open. The main long-term complications are perioral numbness, persistent difficulty with mouth opening and change in salivary function.

Repeat urethrotomy and dilation for the treatment of urethral stricture are neither clinically effective nor cost-effective.

PURPOSE: We developed an algorithm for the management of urethral stricture based on cost-effectiveness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: United Kingdom medical and hospital costs associated with the current management of urethral stricture were calculated using private medical insurance schedules of reimbursement and clean intermittent self-catheterization supply costs. These costs were applied to 126 new patients treated endoscopically for urethral stricture in a general urological setting between January 1, 1991 and December 31, 1999. Treatment failure was defined as recurrent symptomatic stricture requiring further operative intervention following initial intervention. Mean followup available was 25 months (range 1 to 132). RESULTS: The costs were urethrotomy/urethral dilation 2,250.00 pounds sterling (3,375.00 dollars, ratio 1.00), simple 1-stage urethroplasty 5,015.00 pounds sterling (7,522.50 dollars, ratio 2.23), complex 1-stage urethroplasty 5,335.00 pounds sterling (8,002.50 dollars, ratio 2.37) and 2-stage urethroplasty 10,370 pounds sterling (15,555.00 dollars, ratio 4.61). Of the 126 patients assessed 60 (47.6%) required more than 1 endoscopic retreatments (mean 3.13 each), 50 performed biweekly clean intermittent self-catheterization and 7 underwent urethroplasty during followup. The total cost per patient for all 126 patients for stricture treatment during followup was 6,113 pounds sterling (9,170 dollars). This cost was calculated by multiplying procedure cost by the number of procedures performed. A strategy of urethrotomy or urethral dilation as first line treatment, followed by urethroplasty for recurrence yielded a total cost per patient of 5,866 pounds sterling (8,799 dollars). CONCLUSIONS: A strategy of initial urethrotomy or urethral dilation followed by urethroplasty in patients with recurrent stricture proves to be the most cost-effective strategy. This financially based strategy concurs with evidence based best practice for urethral stricture management.

The type of urethroplasty for a pelvic fracture urethral distraction defect cannot be predicted preoperatively.

PURPOSE: Pelvic fracture urethral distraction defects (PFUDDs) are generally treated surgically by a so-called progression approach consisting of 4 steps to achieve a tension-free bulboprostatic anastomosis. Implicitly the need for each step in turn is predictable according to the length of the defect on preoperative x-ray. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 62 evaluable patients with PFUDD the length of the radiological defect was compared with the surgical steps that subsequently proved necessary to achieve a tension-free bulboprostatic anastomosis. RESULTS: Except at the extremes of length there was no association between defect length and the scale of the surgery performed. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons preparing to repair an apparently short PFUDD cannot assume that simple repair is all that is necessary.

Lifestyle and behavioural interventions for men on watchful waiting with uncomplicated lower urinary tract symptoms: a national multidisciplinary survey.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the use of lifestyle and behavioural interventions in the UK for symptom control in men with uncomplicated lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) on watchful waiting (WW). METHOD: Semi-structured interviews with urologists, nurse practitioners and continence advisors were used to obtain a list of lifestyle and behavioural interventions used in men with LUTS. From the 18 interventions identified, a survey was constructed asking how often these interventions were used in routine practice. The survey was sent to 100 consultant urologists (British Association of Urological Surgeons), 100 nurse practitioners (British Association of Urological Nurses), and 100 continence advisors (International Continence Society) with an interest in male urology, all randomly selected. RESULTS: Of 248 (83%) responses, 236 were suitable for analysis; 193 (82%) of the respondents reported using lifestyle or behavioural interventions in men on WW with uncomplicated LUTS. The most frequently used interventions were education about the prostate and bladder, avoiding caffeine, urethral milking and reassuring men that they do not have prostate cancer. The use of lifestyle and behavioural interventions showed an 'all-or-none' pattern. Respondents used either few or many of the 18 interventions identified. There was considerable variation in the extent to which these interventions were used among the survey groups (P < 0.01); urologists used these interventions the least and continence advisors the most. CONCLUSIONS: Lifestyle and behavioural interventions are advised by many medical professionals to men on WW with uncomplicated LUTS. However, the use varies considerably, with some medical professionals advising many of these interventions and some a few or none at all. Further research is required to define and test the effectiveness of these interventions in reducing LUTS.

The problems of penile urethroplasty with particular reference to 2-stage reconstructions.

PURPOSE: We evaluate the anecdotal high revision rate of 2-stage urethroplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The short-term revision rates after 1-stage (139 cases) and 2-stage (103) urethroplasties were compared. RESULTS: There were 4 revisions after 1-stage urethroplasty (4 of 139, 3%) and all involved the penile urethra (20%). The revision rate was 37.8% after stage 1 and 25.3% after stage 2 and of 2-stage urethroplasty 85%, involved the penile urethra. CONCLUSIONS: Although 2-stage has a significantly lower re-stricture rate than 1-stage urethroplasty for complex strictures in the penile urethra, it does so at the expense of a significantly higher revision rate particularly of the penile urethra.