The urethral stricture is anatomically a change in the lumen of the urethra, and its narrowing is observed. In women, stricture of the urethra is a more rare phenomenon. Since the urethra is simpler than that of men.
Causes and symptoms of stricture of the urethra
Among the causes of stricture urethra are the following:
- Chronic recurrent cystitis and urethritis . A prolonged inflammatory process leads to the development of connective tissue and the formation of adhesions, which narrows the lumen.
- Injury of the mucous membrane during medical manipulations.
- Post-traumatic urethral stricture, which occurs due to damage to the urethra in injuries to the perineal region.
- Diseases in which adequate blood supply to the urethra is impaired. This is arteriosclerosis of blood vessels, vasculitis and others.
- Tumors that squeeze the urethra or grow in its lumen.
The symptoms of urethral stricture are quite specific. The main thing is a difficult urination. That is, it is necessary to strain, strain the abdominal muscles. And with this, only a thin stream of urine is excreted. And in neglected cases is allocated by drop. Due to the narrowing of the lumen, the bladder is not fully released. Therefore, there is a feeling of incomplete emptying and pain. Urine can leak and sometimes the development of enuresis .
In order to diagnose the disease, various variations of the urethrography method are widespread.
The stricture of the urethra is what to do?
Conservative drug therapy with stricture is powerless. Therefore, they resort to surgical intervention. The main ways to treat urethral stricture are:
- Buzhirovanie the urethra. During the procedure introduce bougies, gradually increasing their diameter. Thus, the lumen of the urethra gradually widens.
- Open surgery for stricture of the urethra, in which plastic reconstruction is performed.
- Dissection of adhesions under endoscopic control.
- Setting up a special stent. In this case, a "spring" is introduced into the constriction site, which maintains the necessary urethral lumen.
- Endoscopic treatment of urethral stricture with a laser, which is becoming increasingly prevalent. This method is characterized by a more short-term effect in comparison with the above methods.
The operation to eliminate urethral stricture is the main effective method of treatment.
Treatment of stricture of the urethra with folk remedies is not applied due to its ineffectiveness. These methods can remove inflammation, but the narrowing of the lumen in itself will not disappear. Self-medication with folk remedies can lead to a progressive narrowing of the lumen of the urethra.