RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Can proliferative hypertrophic scars of the median sternotomy incision predict the occurrence and characteristics of urethral stricture?
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 701
OP 706
DO 10.15537/smj.2019.7.24285
VO 40
IS 7
A1 Aydemir, Hüseyin
A1 Saglam, Hasan S.
A1 Budak, Salih
A1 Kose, Osman
A1 Gökçe, Ahmet
YR 2019
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/40/7/701.abstract
AB Objectives: To investigate the correlation between the characteristics of urethral stricture and incision scars in patients with urethral stricture and median sternotomy incision.Methods: We identified 368 patients who had undergone internal urethrotomy between January 2014 and December 2017. A total of 49 male patients with a median sternotomy scar and diagnosed with urethral stricture were retrospectively evaluated. The median sternotomy incision scars were assessed using the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) and the patients were divided into 2 groups. Group I consisted of patients with a VSS score of <4 points, and those with ≥4 points constituted group II. The groups were compared in terms of age, smoking habit, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, urethral stricture etiology, length and localization, and stricture relapse after intervention.Results: The mean total VSS score was 2.0 points in group I and 7.46 points in group II. There was a significant correlation between the VSS total score and the urethral stricture length among the whole study population (correlation coefficient value=0.481; p<0.001). The urethral stricture was longer as the VSS score increased.Conclusion: A poorly healed median sternotomy incision scar can predict a poor wound healing in the urethra tissue. Further large scale, multi-center and prospective studies are needed to clarify this relationship.