Brief Account of Urethral Stricture

2. What is Urethral Stricture & its Symptoms There are several conditions that are particular to a certain gender. One such condition is a Urethral Stricture; which is basically a narrowing of the urethra, a tube that helps to pass urine. This is an uncomfortable condition that causes problems in urinating for men and slows down the urinary stream. Other urethral stricture symptoms include a straining feeling while urinating or frequent urination. In short, this is a disease that causes serious inconvenience to a man’s regular lifestyle. Be it long office hours, spending time with loved ones or traveling, etc., this condition can serve as an obstacle and create a burden in their lives.

3. Causes • Chronic inflammation • Injury • Scar tissue caused by an injury to the penis or scrotum, an infection or STD, incorrect placement of catheters or other instruments in the urethra during surgery or other procedures

4. Diagnosis & Evaluation: For this type of condition, any non-invasive testing method may not be suitable or accurate; as it can help identify issues in the urinating patterns, but these may not be precise. Hence, the diagnosis methods include a Retrograde Urethrogram; which is an X-ray procedure that uses a contrast agent (inserted through the opening of the penis), to locate the stricture & its length. A patient might even be required to urinate once the bladder is full so that the stricture can be easily located or identified.

5. Another possible diagnosis method is Cystoscopy, which deploys the use of a small, flexible camera called a ‘cystoscope’ that is inserted into the penis. This allows the specialist to view inside the urethra and it only takes up to 10 minutes to complete. A numbing medication in the form of a jelly-like substance is also inserted into the urethra, allowing less discomfort throughout this process.

6. Urethral Stricture Treatment • Stricture treatmentdepends on the imaging that is conducted and its results; however, the main modalities of management or urethral stricture treatment include: • Urethral Dilation: An invasive procedure that includes stretching the urethra, so that urine can pass freely. • Internal Urethrotomy: A surgical procedure to fix a stricture

7. Urethral Reconstruction: A surgical procedure that is usually required in very serious cases, that include trauma to the urethra, pelvic fractures, or treatment for prostate cancer. This includes removal of the scarred or damaged part of the urethra & reattaching the two healthy ends. • Regenerative Therapy: Latest modality of treatment that utilizes one’s own stem cells (autologous) to treat this condition completely. It is minimally invasive and does not have any long-term side effects, making it a suitable urethral stricture cure.

8. Prevention: This is a condition that would majorly be caused by an injury or external infection; hence the best way to prevent Urethral strictures, is by avoiding injuries to the groin/pelvic area & taking precautions to avoid infections.

9. The plan after Urethral Stricture treatment: Usually, any of the above treatments have a positive result when it comes to curing Urethral Strictures. It is a treatable condition, but there is a slight chance of it occurring again once it has been treated. For this, it is important you go for regular checks & treatments with your doctor. Consult with Regrow Biosciences, India’s leading biotech company; that uses the power of one’s own stem cells to treat various conditions. One such regenerative therapy is Uregrow ®, which is specially designed to treat & cure Urethral Strictures.

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