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Foreign bodies in the urethra
Last reviewed: 12.07.2025
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The famous English surgeon and urologist Henry Morris (1901) wrote: "Too long a list of foreign bodies could be compiled if we consider all those bodies that were introduced into the urethra as insane, lustful, curious and stupid."
Among these bodies we can note hairpins, pencil leads, pieces of sticks, seeds, feathers, pins, needles, etc.
ICD-10 code
T19. Foreign body in the genitourinary tract.
What causes foreign bodies in the urethra?
The main group of victims are young men. Often foreign bodies are inserted by children during play or for the purpose of masturbation. The patient is unable to remove the foreign body back. Foreign bodies that enter the urethra can move towards the bladder or remain at the site of initial insertion.
Elderly people sometimes insert suppositories consisting of various medications into the urethra for therapeutic purposes. Some of them are difficult to dissolve and become the basis for the formation of stones. Sometimes the foreign body turns out to be parts of endoscopic instruments or cotton balls used in urethroscopy.
Symptoms of foreign bodies in the urethra
Symptoms of foreign bodies in the urethra are determined by the shape, size and location of the foreign body. Most often, foreign bodies are located in the scaphoid fossa or in the bulbous part of the urethra. Very rarely, they penetrate into the posterior part of the urethra.
The forced introduction of foreign bodies into the urethra is accompanied by pain, which can sharply increase during urination or erection; subsequently, when an infection occurs, purulent and bloody discharge appears due to constant trauma to the mucous membrane of the urethra.
The presence of a foreign body leads to swelling of the mucous membrane, increased frequency and difficulty of urination. Sometimes acute urinary retention develops. Large objects with sharp edges injure the wall of the urethra, causing urethrorrhagia. Small objects with a smooth surface do not bother patients much. Foreign bodies, depending on their size and shape, partially or completely close the lumen of the urethra.
Complications of foreign bodies in the urethra
Long-term presence of a foreign body in the urethra leads to the development of bedsores, the spread of the inflammatory process to surrounding tissues and the occurrence of paraurethritis, the formation of urinary leaks and the formation of fistulas of the urethra and its strictures.
Diagnostics of foreign bodies in the urethra
Detection of foreign bodies in the urethra is based on anamnesis (indication of the introduction of a foreign body), physical, X-ray and endoscopic examination methods.
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Instrumental diagnostics of foreign bodies in the urethra
The foreign body is detected in the hanging part of the urethra or the corresponding area of the perineum by external palpation, and in the membranous part by rectal examination. The position of the foreign body can be determined using a metal bougie with its careful (so as not to push the foreign body into the bladder) introduction into the urethra.
Plain radiography of the pelvis makes a significant contribution to diagnostics.
Urethroscopy and urethrography finally confirm the diagnosis and reveal the condition of the mucous membrane of the urethra.
What do need to examine?
What tests are needed?
Who to contact?
Treatment of foreign bodies in the urethra
It is most often possible to remove a foreign body without surgical intervention. Treatment of foreign bodies in the urethra depends on the location, shape, volume and mobility of the foreign body. The presence of a foreign body in the prostatic section of the urethra is more dangerous, since the inflammatory process that develops can spread to the prostate and bladder.
If the size and shape of the foreign body allow us to hope for its spontaneous passage, patients are advised to collect urine and at the beginning of urination to briefly squeeze the external opening of the urethra with a strong stream of urine; this will help to get rid of it.
A smooth foreign body should be attempted to be displaced in the direction of the distal section of the urethra, for which it is fixed with the thumb and index finger, having first introduced liquid petroleum jelly into the lumen and gradually displacing it toward the external opening. If necessary, perform a meatotomy.
If these techniques do not help, an attempt is made to remove the foreign body with an instrument. Sometimes it is easier to displace the foreign body into the bladder and then remove it by means of a suprapubic incision.
Indications for hospitalization
Large fixed foreign bodies, as well as developed complications.
Fixed foreign bodies are easier to remove surgically, especially when they are in the hanging section of the urethra. It is more difficult to perform an operation in the posterior and especially membranous sections of the urethra. In case of limited inflammation with the outcome in abscess formation, the abscess is opened, the foreign body is removed, the purulent focus is drained. A suprapubic vesical fistula is applied to drain urine.
Further management
Dynamic monitoring of patients is required for the purpose of prevention and timely treatment of urethral strictures.