Buccal mucosal grafts for urethroplasty: comparison of postoperative oral and perineal morbidity

INTRODUCTION A prospective study of postoperative oral and perineal pain experienced by a group of patients undergoing buccal mucosal graft harvest for urethral reconstruction. PATIENTS AND METHODS A consecutive group of 24 male patients undergoing buccal mucosa graft harvest for urethral reconstruction of stricture disease was prospectively studied between June 2006 and December 2008. All patients were examined pre-operatively and entered into the study prospectively. After surgery, all patients were reviewed at 24 h and 48 h. On both occasions, they were asked to complete a proforma containing visual analogue pain scales for both the oral donor site as well as the perineum. RESULTS A statistically significant higher level of pain was experienced from the perineum than the oral donor site on both the first and second postoperative days. CONCLUSIONS Comparative analysis of visual analogue pain scale scores between oral donor site and perineum showed that patients experience significantly more pain from the latter postoperatively.