Surgical technique for the conservative management of distal urethral melanoma

Urethral melanoma is very rare and pathological diagnosis is important. The prognosis remains poor irrespective of the treatment modality. Rare cases of long-term survival have been reported, one of them following conservativ e management. An initial attempt at conservative resection is worth conside ring to offer a better quality of life to the patient for as long as possib le. We describe a technique of organ-sparing resection in the management of urethral melanoma along with the follow-up protocol that we developed. (C) 2001 The British Association of Plastic Surgeons.