Falcone Marco, Preto Mirko, Ferro Ilaria, Lorenzo Cirigliano, Federica Peretti, Natalia Plamadeala, Carlo Ceruti, Paolo Gontero

(93) SURGICAL OUTCOMES OF URETHRAL LENGTHENING IN THE CONTEXT OF GENITAL GENDER-CONFIRMING SURGERY IN TRANSGENDER MEN

  • Urology
  • Reproductive Medicine
  • Endocrinology
  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Psychiatry and Mental health
Save to CiteDrive Show PDF

Abstract Objectives Our study aim is to analyze the surgical and functional outcomes after urethral reconstruction in consecutive series of transgender men who underwent genital gender-confirming surgery. Methods A retrospective monocentric cohort study was conducted. From 2015 to 2022, patients who underwent urethral lengthening in the context of GGCS were enrolled. Surgical outcomes and postoperative complications were reported. Three questionnaires were administered to evaluate patients’ urinary function (CCO-EPIC, ICIQ-SF) and patients’ psychological well-being (BDI - scale of depression). A 6-item ad hoc created questionnaire was administered to inquire patients’ reported outcomes. Results 31 patients were included in the study. 11 underwent metoidioplasty (Group A), while 20 underwent phalloplasty with different techniques (Group B). The descriptive characteristics between the two groups were comparable, except for the BMI resulting greater in Group B (p-value 0.012). Average follow-up was 18 months (±18SD). Mean operative time was 160 minutes (±43 SD). No significant intraoperative complications occurred. Early postoperative complication rate resulted significantly higher for group B (83.3% p-value 0.034). The most frequent complication, urethral fistula, healed in all cases after prolonged catheterization. Overall 9.6% of patients needed a surgical revision to address urethral complications. CCO-EPIC and ICIQ-SF administered preoperatively and 1-year after surgery showed worsening in urinary function (p-value = 0.04 and p-value = 0.02 respectively), BDI score showed a significant improvement in postoperative settings (p-value= 0.02). 82 % of the patients after 1-year follow-up were satisfied with the procedure and 81 % declared that surgery had a positive impact on their quality of life. The main limitations of the study are the limited follow-up, the non-randomized nature of the study and the small number of patients. Conclusions Urethral reconstruction in the context of GGCS is a challenging reconstructive surgery burdened by high incidence of postoperative complications. Despite that, it may contribute to improve the psychological well-being of transgender men. Conflicts of Interest This study is free from commercial influence or bias and the authors had no conflict of interest.

Need a simple solution for managing your BibTeX entries? Explore CiteDrive!

  • Web-based, modern reference management
  • Collaborate and share with fellow researchers
  • Integration with Overleaf
  • Comprehensive BibTeX/BibLaTeX support
  • Save articles and websites directly from your browser
  • Search for new articles from a database of tens of millions of references
Try out CiteDrive

More from our Archive