Evaluation of two techniques of partial urethral obstruction in the male rat model of bladder outlet obstruction.
OBJECTIVE
To perform a comparison to determine which of two methods of partial urethral ligation produces the most consistent outcome and fewest side effects. Such a study has not been previously reported. Partial urethral ligation is a means of causing reproducible bladder outlet obstruction. In the male rat model, partial urethral obstruction can be performed either by perineal incision and bulbous urethral ligation or retropubic incision and midprostatic obstruction.


METHODS
Fifteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied. Five were selected for bulbous urethral obstruction through a perineal incision, five for midprostatic obstruction using a retropubic approach, and five for a sham operation through a perineal incision.


RESULTS
The operative time was shorter and morbidity lower with the perineal approach compared with the retropubic approach. Inflammation or infection, or both, were seen in the prostate, bladder, proximal urethra, ureters, and kidneys in the rats in which a midprostatic obstruction was performed. The proximal urethra and prostate were mildly inflamed in those rats that underwent bulbous obstruction. Sham-operated rats exhibited mild prostatitis only.


CONCLUSIONS
The perineal approach to the bulbous urethra is the method of choice for creating a partial urethral obstruction model of bladder outlet obstruction in the male rat.
Melman
Arnold
A
Department of Urology, Institute for Smooth Muscle Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA. amelman@montefiore.org
Tar
Moses
M
Boczko
Judd
J
Christ
George
G
Leung
Albert C
AC
Zhao
Weixin
W
Russell
Robert G
RG
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014524:Urethral Obstruction; D001748:Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction