Efficacy of mitomycin-C on anterior urethral stricture after internal urethrotomy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Mitomycin-C is an agent that plays an important role in the tissue healing process and scar formation. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of mitomycin-C in treating anterior urethral stricture following internal urethrotomy. Methods: Studies evaluating the efficacy of mitomycin-c for anterior urethral stricture post urethrotomy were searched using PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, EBSCOHost, Cochrane Reviews, and OVID as directory databases. Terms used in the searching process were “mitomycin-c” or “mitomycin”, “urethral stricture”, “urethral stenosis”, “internal urethrotomy”, “optical urethrotomy” and its synonyms. Every randomized controlled trial study conducted in human subjects was included. Study appraisals were conducted in accordance with Oxford University Center for Evidence-Based Medicine guidelines. The conclusion of each study was summarized and the calculation of fixed effect from every study was conducted in meta-analysis. Results: Included in this study were three studies involving 231 patients. All of them reported less recurrence of in patients treated with mitomycin-c post urethrotomy (p<0.001). The fixed risk ratio of all studies was 0.32 with 95% confidence interval (0.19-0.54). All studies also reported less stricture length after treatment with mitomycin-c, but there were not statistical differences between with or without treatment group. Conclusion: Mitomycin-C has efficacy in treating anterior urethral stricture after internal urethrotomy. However, the inclusion of relatively few studies may affect the strength of this review and further studies need to be done.