Bladder outflow problems in females.

This is a prospective study that included 188 females who had bladder outflow problems, either due to urethral stricture disease or failure to empty the bladder. The data was taken from a computer database and included patient data since 11 years, who were on follow-up for their conditions. The women ranged from 23 to 97 years old, with a median value of 59 years. The aim of the study was to assess the bladder outflow problems in females and their treatment, which included either cystoscopy alone or in combination with urethral dilatation followed by long-term clean intermittent self catheterisation or dilatation (CISC/ISD). Out of the 188 patients, there were 135 patients who had problems with emptying the bladder due to various conditions. These females did well withCISC, which is an accepted treatment modality in this group of patients. They also used catheters of a smaller size as compared to patients using ISD for stricture disease. Thirty-eight patients among the total number had urethral stricture disease, whereas 15 patients presented with both conditions. Among the patients having treatment for stricture disease, the majority needed urethral dilatation repeated during follow-up. However, none of them needed any reconstructive surgery during that period of time. Most of the patients were comfortable doing ISD, in spite of using larger catheters comparatively. The catheters most used were the Lofric catheters. It was also seen that the majority of patients were satisfied doing CISC/ISD.