Urethral stenting

Flexible metallic stents can be placed in patients with urethral obstruction. This may be due to scarring (which can occur following traumatic injury) or tumor (arising from the urethra or the prostate). These stents are placed using fluoroscopic guidance under brief general anesthesia. The improvement in urine flow is immediate and most patients are discharged the following day.

The image on the left shows normal urethra in this male dog. The image on the right is taken from the area affected by the tumor. The cancerous tissue is irregular and fills the lumen of the urethra.

In this fluoroscopic image, we can see the stent placed over a guidewire in the affected section of the urethra. The tumor in the prostate has filled with the contraast agent.

The stent has been deployed; the mesh is now visible in the middle of the image.