A comparative study of two single-stage oral mucosal substitution urethroplasty (Kulkarni and Asopa) in the surgical treatments of lichen sclerosus urethral strictures

Long-segment lichen sclerosus (LS) urethral stricture is a challenge for urologists. Limited data are available for surgeons to make a surgical decision between Kulkarni and Asopa urethroplasty. In this retrospective study, we investigated the outcomes of these two procedures in patients with LS urethral stricture. Between January 2015 and December 2020, 77 patients with LS urethral stricture underwent Kulkarni and Asopa procedures for urethroplasty in the Department of Urology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (Shanghai, China). Of the 77 patients, 42 (54.5%) underwent the Asopa procedure and 35 (45.5%) underwent the Kulkarni procedure. The overall complication rate was 34.2% in the Kulkarni group and 19.0% in the Asopa group, and no difference was observed (P = 0.105). Among the complications, no statistical difference was observed in the incidence of urethral stricture recurrence (P = 0.724) or glans dehiscence (P = 0.246) except for postoperative meatus stenosis (P = 0.020). However, the recurrence-free survival rate between the two procedures was significantly different (P = 0.016). Cox survival analysis showed that antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy use (P = 0.020), diabetes (P = 0.003), current/former smoking (P = 0.019), coronary heart disease (P < 0.001), and stricture length (P = 0.028) may lead to a higher hazard ratio of complications. Even so, these two techniques can still provide acceptable results with their own advantages in the surgical treatment of LS urethral strictures. The surgical alternative should be considered comprehensively according to the patient characteristics and surgeon preferences. Moreover, our results showed that antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy use, diabetes, coronary heart disease, current/former smoking, and stricture length may be contributing factors of complications. Therefore, patients with LS are advised to undergo early interventions for better therapeutic effects.