University Hospital Southampton first in the region to offer new, less invasive treatment for men with urinary condition

Men with urethral stricture disease can now be seen, treated and recover more quickly thanks to a new approach by University Hospital Southampton that no longer requires general anaesthetic in an operating theatre.

Until recently, patients with the condition, where scar tissue narrows the tube used to pass urine, have had to spend several hours in hospital and be put to sleep while surgeons performed the Optilume procedure, using a balloon to widen the urinary tract.

Now they are being offered a quick, convenient and less invasive option using local anaesthetic which can see them in and out of hospital in just one hour and allows them to eat and drink on the day as normal.

Urethral strictures are a common condition, causing troublesome symptoms such as a weak flow, difficulty emptying the bladder and recurrent infections. An estimated 62,000 men in the UK live with the disease, with more than 12,000 requiring medical intervention each year.

The Optilume device works by combining gentle balloon dilatation with the targeted delivery of a drug called paclitaxel, which helps prevent scar tissue from reforming.

During the procedure, a small camera is used to guide a specialised catheter to the narrowed area. A balloon is then gently inflated to widen the channel, while delivering the drug directly to the affected tissue. The balloon is then removed, restoring normal urinary flow.

As well as delivering clear benefits to patients, the use of local instead of general anaesthetic is also helping to reduce pressure on busy operating theatres at UHS, allowing more efficient use of hospital resources and reducing the waiting list for planned surgery.

The introduction of local anaesthetic operating lists, carried out within a clinic in the Urology Centre at UHS, has also created valuable opportunities for training and development, supporting both experienced staff and junior surgical trainees to build expertise in minimally invasive techniques.

Katherine Guest, Senior Fellow in Andrology at UHS, said: “We are really pleased to be the first NHS hospital in the region to deliver this new approach to treatment for our patients. Using local anaesthetic means they can undergo the procedure in a more relaxed and less intimidating setting, while also benefiting from shorter recovery times and quicker discharge home.

“Operating theatres are resource-intensive, requiring specialist teams and equipment. Freeing them up not only allows more patients to be treated sooner but it also improves the flow of care throughout the hospital.”