台灣男性之平均尿道長度與寬度以及其與臨床資料之相關
許自翔1、盧星華1,2,3、林登龍1,2,3、郭俊逸1,2,3、吳宏豪1,2,3
黃逸修1,2,3、林子平1,2,3、林志杰1,2,3、黃奕燊1,2,3、黃子豪1,2,3、陳光國1,2,3
1臺北榮民總醫院 泌尿部
2國立陽明大學 醫學院 泌尿學科；3書田泌尿科學研究中心
The caliber and length of the urethra in Taiwanese men
and the correlation with clinical data
Tzu-Hsiang Hsu1, Shing-Hwa Lu1,2,3, Alex T.L. Lin1,2,3, Junne-Yih Kuo1,2,3, Howard H.H Wu1,2,3
Eric Yi-Hsiu Huang1,2,3, Tzu-Ping Lin1,2,3, Chi-Cheh Lin1,2,3, I-Shen Huang1,2,3, Tzu-Hao Huang1,2,3, Kuang-Kuo Chen1,2,3
1Department of Urology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
2Department of Urology, School of Medicine, and 3Shu-Tien Urological Science Research Center, National Yang-Ming University
Purpose: Endourological procedures and urethral catheterization are the fundamental daily practice of Urologist. There are no population-based data regarding length and caliber of the male urethra. This study aimed to measure the urethral length and caliber in Taiwanese men, and to evaluate their correlation with age, body height, weight, prostate volume, lower urinary tract symptoms and uroflowmetry.
Materials and Methods: From January to March 2017, patients' calibers of anterior urethra were determined before scheduled endoscopic surgery by bougie à boule under spinal or general anesthesia. The urethral lengths were obtained via indwelling Foley’s catheter after surgery by two methods. The distance of Foley’s catheter at penis’s tip to the end of Foley’s catheter was recorded in the operation room and the urethral length was calculated by subtraction. Alternatively, the Foley’s catheter was marked at penis’s tip and the distance from mark to the beginning of re-inflated balloon was obtained upon removal of Foley’s catheter. The demographic data, prostate volume, uroflowmetry, the International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS) were investigated. Patients with the history of urethral trauma, stricture, sounding, transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) were excluded.
Results: Fifty-six patients with a mean age of 67.4±12.9 years (range, 31-88 years) were studied. The mean body height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were 165.3±6.35 cm (range, 152.0-179.8 cm), 68.1±12.5 kg (range, 42.5-99.7 kg) and 24.8±3.95 kg/m2 (range, 17.1-32.5 kg/m2), respectively. The mean male urethra was 26.5±3.0 Fr (i.e., 8.8±1.0 mm) in diameter and 17.6±2.6 cm (range, 12.1-24.5 cm) in length. Statistically significant linear relationship of urethral length was positive with body height/weight/BMI (all p<0.01) and negative with age (p=0.012). The associations were moderate in strength (r=0.353, 0.469, 0.364, -0.333). There were no statistically significant correlations between urethral length/caliber and the other clinical data.
Conclusions: There was scarce data regarding adult male urethral caliber and urethra. Our study provides anatomic information as clinical reference. The positive correlations of urethral length with body height, weight and BMI and negative correlation with age were noted.