What causes female urethral diverticula?
What causes a urethral diverticulum? Urethral diverticula are thought to be congenital (present at birth) or acquired. Vaginal birth and trauma have been thought to contribute to the formation of a urethral diverticulum, where the urethral muscoa (inner layer) herniates through the muscular layers.
Where is a urethral diverticulum located?
Overview. Urethral diverticulum (UD) is a condition in which a variably sized “pocket” or outpouching forms next to the urethra. Because it most often connects to the urethra, this outpouching repeatedly gets filled with urine during the act of urination thus causing symptoms.
What does a urethral diverticulum feel like?
Symptoms may include dysuria (burning with urination), dyspareunia (painful intercourse), and dribbling after voiding. Other symptoms may include recurrent urinary tract infections, complaint of a vaginal mass, hematuria (blood in the urine), vaginal discharge, obstructive urinary symptoms or urinary incontinence.
How do you get rid of urethral diverticulum?
Surgical excision is the treatment of choice. It should be performed with care with an experienced urologist. The UD sac may be attached to the urethral opening. If the sac is not removed carefully, it could damage the urethra.
Can a urethral diverticulum go away on its own?
Symptoms of a urethral diverticulum can disappear or remain the same for long periods. You may not feel them at all. If the urethral diverticulum is painful, the most common treatment is surgery. Your doctor may remove the sac, or they may drain it through the vagina.
How common is a urethral diverticulum?
Female urethral diverticulum (UD) is a rare disorder with an annual incidence of 17.9 per 1,000,000 (0.02%) per year. UD is thought to represent 1.4% of women with incontinence presenting to urology practices. Urethral diverticula occur most commonly in people aged 30-60 years. The mean age at diagnosis is 45 years.
Can you live with a urethral diverticulum?
Outlook for UD
Once your urethral diverticulum is properly diagnosed and treated surgically by an experienced urologist, your outlook is excellent. There are few complications after surgical treatment. Rarely, you may have a recurrence of your UD if it wasn’t completely removed during surgery.
Can you see a urethral diverticulum on an ultrasound?
Conclusions: Transvaginal ultrasound is effective for evaluating patients with suspected urethral diverticulum. It is less expensive and may identify diverticula missed by other diagnostic modalities.
Can a urethral diverticulum burst?
The underlying cause of urethral diverticula is often an infection and/or obstruction in the para-urethral glands. These glands surround the urethra and when they become obstructed, the glands can become infected and lead to abscess formation which subsequently ruptures into the urethra.
How long is recovery for urethral diverticulum?
Recovering from UD surgery
The recovery from UD surgery usually takes two to three weeks. You’ll need to be on antibiotics for up to a week following surgery. You’ll also have a catheter during the recovery process.
Can you live with urethral diverticulum?
Once your urethral diverticulum is properly diagnosed and treated surgically by an experienced urologist, your outlook is excellent. There are few complications after surgical treatment. Rarely, you may have a recurrence of your UD if it wasn’t completely removed during surgery.
Is urethral diverticulum cancerous?
At last follow-up 63% were alive and well, 10% were alive with recurrent cancer and 25% had died from their disease. UDC is rare in women. It is predominantly adenocarcinoma. There is no established treatment and survival is at best moderate.
How long is urethral diverticulum surgery?
To review the basics of what we discussed in the office: The actual procedure usually takes one to two hours.
Is urethral diverticulum rare?
Female urethral diverticulum is a rare entity with diverse spectrum of clinical manifestations. It is a very rare cause of bladder outlet obstruction and should be considered as a differential diagnosis in females presenting with acute urinary retention associated with a vaginal mass.