Gapometry and anterior urethrometry in the repair of posterior urethral defects.

Abstract

We determined the influence of bulbar urethral length on the anastomotic repair approach to bulboprostatic urethral distraction defects. We reviewed the medical records and radiographic studies of 120 patients 6 to 52 years old who had undergone anastomotic repair of bulboprostatic urethral gaps. Repair was accomplished by a simple perineal operation in 84 patients (group 1) and an elaborated perineal or a transpubic procedure in 36 (group 2). The length of the urethral gap and bulbar urethra was measured on preoperative urethrogram. Also, the length of the urethral gap as a fraction of bulbar urethral length (index of elastic lengthening) was calculated. Mean length of the urethral gap was 1.5 cm in group 1 vs 4.2 cm in group 2 (p <0.001). Mean bulbar urethral length was 7.3 cm in group 1 vs 6.6 cm in group 2 (p >0.05). The mean index of elastic lengthening was 0.21 (range 0.06 to 0.34) in group 1 vs 0.64 (range 0.38 to 0.88) in group 2 (p <0.001). The difference in the mean length of the urethral gap between children and adults in the 2 groups was not statistically significant (2.4 vs 2.5 cm, p >0.05), while the difference in the mean length of the bulbar urethra was highly significant (5.6 vs 7.7 cm, p <0.001). Bulboprostatic urethral gaps shorter than a third of bulbar urethral length are usually corrected by a simple perineal operation. For longer gaps an elaborated perineal or transpubic procedure is usually done. Also, the latter 2 procedures are more commonly performed in children than in adults because of the shorter bulbar urethra.