Early Postoperative Complications of One-Stage Substitution Urethroplasty with Oral Mucosa Graft: A Monocentric Retrospective Study

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> We report early postoperative complications (PCs) (≤90 days) of one-stage oral mucosa graft (OMG) urethroplasty in treatment of acquired anterior urethral strictures. <b><i>Material and Methods:</i></b> In this study, we evaluated 530 males who underwent one-stage substitution urethroplasty (SU) between September 1996 and October 2020. Medical records were reviewed to identify and classify early PCs based on the Clavien-Dindo classification (CDC). We subdivided the PCs into three groups with different kinds of complications which allowed us a more detailed analysis concerning general surgical complications (GSCs), donor site morbidity (DSM) and complications specific for free graft urethroplasty (CSUs). The influence of patient demographics, stricture characteristics and operative procedure on the occurrence of PCs was analysed. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Early (90-day) PCs occurred in 90 (16.98%) patients, whereas only 19 patients (3.58%) experienced serious events (CDC grades III and IV). Early complications include 4.5% GSCs, 1.7% DSM and 10.8% CSUs. Only stricture length turned out to be an independent statistically significant risk factor for the occurrence of early PCs. There was a trend towards a higher rate of complications in patients with ASA III compared to ASA I. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The incidence of severe early complications in patients undergoing one-stage SU with OMG is low.