title: PlasmaKinetic™ versus cold knife internal urethrotomy in terms of recurrence rates: a prospective randomized study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy and outcomes of PlasmaKinetic™ urethrotomy against cold knife direct vision internal urethrotomy in terms of recurrence rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 136 male patients with urethral strictures were enrolled into the study. The patients were allocated to cold knife or PlasmaKinetic urethrotomy groups sequentially by using computer-generated numbers. Group A (PlasmaKinetic) and group B (cold knife) included 70 and 66 patients, respectively. All patients were reevaluated at the 3rd, 9th and 18th month postoperatively with uroflowmetry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Group A patients had a postoperative 3rd-month maximum flow rate value of 16.09 ml/s, whereas this same parameter was 15.15 ml/s in group B (p < 0.05). The urethral stricture recurrence rate up to the 9-month period was statistically significant for group A (14%) compared with group B (30%). When we compared the recurrence rates of these groups from postoperative day 1 up to the 18th month, the results were 37% for group A and 33% for group B (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PlasmaKinetic urethrotomy provides a better recurrence-free rate during the early period compared with conventional cold knife therapy. Nevertheless, the outcome of the stricture did not change and fibrotic tissue reformed between the 9th and the 18th month.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Kafkas University, Kars, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kursat
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cecen
authors.forename: Mert Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Karadag
authors.forename: Aslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kocaaslan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013525:Surgical Instruments; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014421:Turkey; D014525:Urethral Stricture / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014563:Urodynamics; D013521:Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*