Dorsal Versus Ventral Anterior Urethral Spatulation in Posterior Urethroplasty

Purpose: To compare dorsal versus ventral anterior urethral spatulation in posterior urethroplasty. Materials and Methods: In a retrospective study, we evaluated the records of 320 posterior urethroplasties which have been done in our center over a 7-year period from January 2000 to December 2006. The results of dorsal and ventral anterior urethral spatulations were compared. Results: The studied subjects consisted of 264 men and 54 prepubescent boys( < 15 years) with the mean age of 23 years (rang, 5 to 84 years. The mean follow-up was 52 months (range, 27 to 107 months). Six o’clock (group A) and 12 o’clock (group B) anterior urethral spatulations were performed in 101 (32%) and 219 (68%) of the patients, respectively. The success rates were 96% and 87.6% in groups A and B, respectively (P = .025). There were no urethro-rectal fistula and perineal wound infection during the follow-up period. Conclusion: Our data suggest that the dorsal anterior urethral spatulation in urethroplasty is more efficient than ventral anterior urethral spatulation in terms of treatment success outcome.