Urethral management after artificial urinary sphincter explantation due to cuff erosion.

Introduction: The artificial urethral sphincter (AUS) is the gold standard treatment in cases of moderate-to-severe stress urinary incontinence in males. Cuff erosions are one of the most important distant complications of AUS implantation. The optimal urethral management has still not been established.

Material and methods: Search terms related to 'urethral stricture', 'artificial urinary sphincter', and 'cuff erosion' were used in the PubMed database to identify relevant articles.

Results: In this mini review we identified 6 original articles that assessed the urethral management after AUS explantation due to cuff erosion and included urinary diversion by transurethral and/or suprapubic catheterization, urethrorrhaphy, and in situ urethroplasty. We summarized the results of different management methods and their efficacy in terms of preventing urethral stricture formation. We highlight the need for better-quality evidence on this topic.

Conclusions: The available data do not provide a clear answer to the question of optimal urethral management during AUS explantation. There is a great need to provide higher-quality evidence on this topic.