ABSTRACT
Urethral stricture is a true narrowing or scarring of the urethra that can result in bladder outlet obstruction with subsequent decreased urine flow, elevated postvoid residual (PVR), and a variety of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTSS). Less common urethral strictures can cause urinary retention, renal failure, hydronephrosis, and pyelonephritis [1,2]. Like any cause of obstruction, patients may present with voiding symptoms and/or storage symptoms (frequency, urgency, urgency incontinence). The incidence of true female urethral stricture is not known, and treatments for it have not been extensively studied. In 2013, osman et al. Performed a systematic review of all surgical techniques for the treatment of female urethral strictures and found only 114 patients reported in the world literature [3]. Despite the relatively sparse data on treatment of female urethral stricture, the diagnosis accounted for 1.2 million office visits in the united states from 1992 through 2000 and had an annual expenditure of $69 million in 2000 [4]. This apparent discrepancy is likely the result on of over diagnosis of women without true stricture disease and underutilization of surgery to treat true urethral strictures. Fortunately, the concept of the "narrow" yet unscarred urethra as a cause of lutss and recurrent urinary tract infections is not as popular as it once was, and the practice of urethral dilatation has decreased. In more contemporary series, urethral stricture has been reported to be the cause of urodynamically proven bladder outlet obstruction in 4%–13% of women [5–7].
