Patient Characteristics and Perioperative Outcomes of Female Urethral Diverticulectomy: Analysis of a Multi-Institutional Prospective Database

OBJECTIVE: To assess the patient and perioperative characteristics of urethral diverticulectomy using a large multi-institutional prospectively collected database.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Female patients were identified using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program participant user files (2007-2012) and current procedural terminology codes for urethral diverticulectomy (53,230). Preoperative variables and 30-day complications were examined.

RESULTS: Urethral diverticulectomies were performed on 122 females during the study period. The cohort was relatively healthy; 80% of patients had an American Society of Anesthesiologists score of 1 or 2. The majority of procedures were performed in an outpatient setting (82%). The median procedure length was 77.5 minutes (interquartile range: 50.5-112.5), and the median length of stay was 0 days (interquartile range: 0-1). The overall 30-day complication rate was 3.3% (n = 4): 3 patients developed urinary tract infections (UTIs) and 1 patient developed both a UTI and a superficial wound infection.

CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, our study represents the largest multi-institutional cohort of patients having undergone urethral diverticulectomy. The patients requiring this intervention were relatively healthy, and the procedure itself was short, allowing most patients to be discharged within 24 hours. The 30-day complication rate was very low, with UTI being the most common complication. Thus, patients can continue to be confidently counseled that urethral diverticulectomy is a safe procedure with very few perioperative complications.