Comparison between holmium laser resection and internal urethrotomy with cold knife for urethral stricture

Objective: To compare the clinical effects of holmium laser resection and internal urethrotomy with cold knife on urethral stricture.Methods: Twenty-five cases of urethral stricture were treated by holmium laser resection and 19 cases internal urethrotomy with cold knife.The mean operation time,postoperative hospital stay,recurrence of the stricture and re-operative rate were observed,and the clinical effects were compared between the two groups.Results: All the cases were followed up for 1 to 6 years.The postoperative hospital stay was not significantly different between the two groups(P>0.05).But the reoccurrence of the stricture and the re-operative rate were lowered in the holmium laser resection group compared with that in the internal urethrotomy with cold knife group(P<0.05).Conclusions: The holmium laser technique is effective for treatment of urethral stricture and leaves few complications.The holmium laser technique is superior to internal urethrotomy with cold knife in reduction of the incidence of recurrent stricture.