A stricture is scar tissue that narrows the urethra, slowing urine flow. Dilation stretches the scar, and a quick cut through a scope can open it.
Key points
- These work for some short strictures, but scars often come back.
- Urethroplasty is surgery that repairs or rebuilds the urethra.
- It has a higher long-term success rate for many strictures, and our urologists do it here.
- A drug-coated balloon is another newer option for some.
When should I come in about this?
If “Urethral dilation vs urethroplasty: what are the options” is the reason you are looking us up, call 678-344-8900 or book online and we will see you at our Sandy Springs Clinic & Surgery Center at 1450 S Johnson Ferry Road, or at our Decatur Clinic at 2711 Irvin Way. If you cannot pass urine, go to an emergency department or call 911. A weak stream from a known or suspected stricture can be booked as a regular visit. We will review prior dilations or scopes and talk through dilation or urethroplasty, which are the options Advanced Urology already discusses for recurrent narrowing. Bring prior operative notes if you have them, a photo ID, insurance information if you carry it, and a medicine list.
We would like to see you in Sandy Springs
Our Sandy Springs Clinic & Surgery Center at 1450 S Johnson Ferry Road, which has its own surgery center, and our Decatur Clinic at 2711 Irvin Way are both ready to welcome you. One number books either office: 678-344-8900.
Request an appointment at Advanced Urology. Call 678-344-8900 Book online
Further reading
- Read the full answer to this question on advancedurology.com
- Advanced Urology physicians: Advanced Urology overview
How our Sandy Springs urologists think through this question
When someone brings this exact question into our Sandy Springs Clinic & Surgery Center, 1450 S Johnson Ferry Road, it gets a full hearing. Our Sandy Springs urologists give that question the time it deserves. In Sandy Springs our urologists sit with the story you bring, the tests already in hand, and what would actually change the plan, and then we talk about a procedure if one belongs in the discussion. When treatment comes up in Sandy Springs, we stay with what Advanced Urology already offers: explaining dilation and urethroplasty as the two paths urologists commonly discuss, and which would actually fit the narrowing we find. If a popular option is one we do not offer, we will tell you so at the Sandy Springs visit. If a detail here disagrees with what you have been told, bring that to 1450 S Johnson Ferry Road and we will sort it out with you.
What a visit at Sandy Springs is usually like
The first appointment at our Sandy Springs Clinic & Surgery Center, 1450 S Johnson Ferry Road leaves room for you to tell the story in your own words. In that first conversation we ask how long the problem has lasted, what you have already tried, and which medicines you currently take. An exam is often part of that first Sandy Springs visit, and we walk through any urine study or scan before it happens. If a later procedure needs a surgery center, we will tell you whether it is scheduled here at 1450 S Johnson Ferry Road or at another Advanced Urology surgery center, and how to prepare. At the desk at our Sandy Springs Clinic & Surgery Center, 1450 S Johnson Ferry Road, please have a government-issued identification, insurance information if you carry it, and the names of the medicines you take; old records help, and we can see you even if the file is still coming together.
When to call our team at Sandy Springs about this
Call 678-344-8900 when the question you just read is the one on your mind, or when a test result named here has just arrived. We will get you on the Sandy Springs schedule, or you can use online booking, and we will tell you the earliest opening we can offer. Heavy bleeding, clots that stop you from urinating, a fever with pain in the side or back, or being unable to pass urine at all should be handled in an emergency department or by calling 911, rather than waiting for a routine slot at our Sandy Springs Clinic & Surgery Center, 1450 S Johnson Ferry Road.