A new technique for meatal stenosis in patients with lichen sclerosus

Abstract

Purpose: A novel technique is described to relieve stenosis of a ventrally placed or pinhole external urinary meatus in men and boys with lichen sclerosus.

Materials and methods: A total of 19 patients underwent the new operation in a 5-year period. Mean patient age was 42.2 years (range 6 to 74) and mean followup was 3 years 9 months (range 18 months to 6 years 7 months). The operation involves dorsal and ventral meatotomies with an inverted V-shaped relieving incision to correct puckering caused by dorsal meatotomy. Patients were mailed a questionnaire asking if they were pleased with the cosmetic results, and how often and how much they sprayed when passing urine.

Results: Two patients died of unrelated causes and 2 were lost to followup. There were no recurrences or major complications. A total of 13 patients replied to the questionnaires. All patients were pleased or very pleased with the cosmetic result. Most patients (11 of 13 or 85%) did not spray at all or, if they did, only sprayed occasionally. No patient found it constant or severe.

Conclusions: The technique relieves stenosis of the external urinary meatus in the medium term. It is rapid and easy to perform on an outpatient basis and it provides good cosmesis with a low incidence of a spraying stream. Because the main axis of the operation is dorsal, it does not create a hypospadiac meatus.