Urethral strictures at Baragwanath Hospital.

The records of 258 patients operated on for urethral strictures at Baragwanath Hospital over a 40-month period were reviewed. The young, economically active man was mostly affected and gonorrhoea appeared to be the most frequent aetiological cause. Internal urethrotomy was the commonest procedure performed (64% of cases). Overall, a single procedure was done in 70% of the patients, whilst the remaining 30% had multiple operations. Eighty-eight per cent of the internal urethrotomies were successful. Good results were also seen with the other single-stage procedures, whilst a high percentage of 2-stage urethroplasties returned with complications. It is emphasised that the simplest, one-stage procedure necessitating the shortest hospital stay should be the elective treatment of choice in these patients.