Objective: To assess the effectiveness of visual laser ablation treatment with neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser in male patients with urethral strictures and to compare the effects with those obtained in patients treated with Sachse's optical urethrotomy.
Materials and methods: Fifty patients aged 22 to 83 (mean age 61.8) with primary (n = 26, 52%) and recurrent (n = 24, 48%) urethral strictures 0.3 to 2.4 cm long qualified for the study. The patients were randomized into two groups: 30 men treated using visual laser ablation of urethral strictures (VLASU) with Nd:YAGlaser and 20 men treated by correction of urethral strictures using Sachse's optical urethrotomy.
Results: At 12-month follow-up, seven (35%) patients who underwent optical urethrotomy and 21 (70%) in the VLASU group did not require repetition of the procedure. The choice of VLASU as a method of treatment significantly decreased the probability of therapeutic failure and recurrence of urethral strictures (p = 0.02).
Conclusion: VLASU can be used as a method of treatment of this disorder. It is an effective, modern, low-invasive, and repeatable technique and is technically simple and easy to master. It can be used in cases in which introduction of a 22 Char optical urethrotome into the stricture site is impossible, as well as for treatment of multiple strictures during one procedure.