The sloughed urethra syndrome

Construction of a female urethra using the vaginal wall and a buttock flap: experience with 40 cases

METHODS

From 1975 to 1996 a urethra was constructed using tubularized anterior vaginal wall covered with a buttock flap in 40 female patients in whom urinary incontinence was associated with a short or absent urethra. The underlying pathology included bilateral single ectopic ureters, cloacal malformation, urogenital sinus malformation, previous failed surgery of the urethra, severe trauma, myelodysplasia, female hypospadias, ectopic ureterocele with destruction of the urethra, congenital epispadias, bladder exstrophy, and previous hysterectomy and vaginectomy for clear cell carcinoma caused by intrauterine exposure to diethylstilbestrol. Other reconstructive procedures in these patients included bladder neck narrowing from above in 33 patients, ureteral reimplantation in 35, and bladder augmentation in 21. In the prone position, a tube of vaginal wall was used to create a urethra when it was absent or lengthen the urethra if it was too short. The neourethra was extended up to the base of the clitoris, using a multilayered closure of soft tissue over it distally with introital muscle and adjacent mucosa. The proximal neourethra was covered with a buttock flap.

RESULTS

All patients were originally wet. Thirty-four are now dry. Four patients have minimal stress incontinence. Two patients have urinary diversions. The majority (n=25) void normally. Fourteen patients self-catheterize to empty their bladders. One patient wears an external appliance on the abdominal wall for collection of urine. Complications included: creating stress incontinence in one patient who had been previously dry by extracting a stone from the bladder, necrosis of a buttock flap from applying a tight perineal dressing, fistula requiring surgical closure in three patients, and slippage of the buttock flap in one patient.

CONCLUSION

This operation is a useful method to correct diverse congenital and acquired pathology that causes incontinence in girls.

The Marlex sling operation for the treatment of recurrent stress urinary incontinence: a 16-year review

Between 1968 and 1983, 281 patients with recurrent stress urinary incontinence and nine patients with primary stress urinary incontinence were treated with a two-team (suprapubic vaginal) Marlex urethral sling operation. Selection was based on the patient's history and the clinical demonstration of an anatomic defect in the closure mechanism of the urethra. The operative technique as described in 1970 remains unchanged. The bladder neck is released from the scar and replaced in a midretropubic position on a hammock of Marlex mesh attached to Cooper's ligaments. Patients with a sloughed urethra had a sling operation in conjunction with the reconstruction of a neourethra. The overall success rate based on a minimum 5-year follow-up of 208 patients was 77.4%. There was a high failure rate in the sloughed urethra group. Significant overall complications include bladder neck obstruction and chronic cystitis.

Urethral reconstruction in the young female using a perineal pedicle flap

Five young female patients with a functionally short or absent urethra are described. Two patients had an abnormal urethra related to a congenital malformation (1 female hypospadias, 1 urogenital sinus) and three patients had an absent urethra related to previous surgery. Four of the five patients were totally incontinent of urine. Urethral reconstruction was achieved by tubularizing the mucosa of the vaginal vault and swinging a full thickness pedicle skin flap from the posterior perineum and buttock to cover the urethral repair. In two patients previously diverted, undiversion was made possible. Urinary continence has been achieved in all five patients.