Urethra#Male urethra

The urethra is a fibrous and muscular tube which connects the urinary bladder to the external urethral meatus. Its length differs between the sexes, because it passes through the penis in males.

File:Gray1142.png

In the human male, the urethra is on average {{convert|18|to|20|cm|in|0|abbr=off|sp=us}} long and opens at the end of the external urethral meatus.

The urethra is divided into four parts in men, named after the location:

There is inadequate data for the typical length of the male urethra; however, a study of 109 men showed an average length of 22.3 cm (SD = 2.4 cm), ranging from 15 cm to 29 cm.{{cite journal |vauthors=Kohler TS, Yadven M, Manvar A, Liu N, Monga M |title=The length of the male urethra |journal= International Brazilian Journal of Urology |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=451–4; discussion 455–6 |year=2008 |pmid=18778496 |url=http://www.brazjurol.com.br/july_august_2008/Kohler_ing_451_456.htm |doi=10.1590/s1677-55382008000400007|doi-access=free }}

The urethra in male placental mammals is typically longer than in females.{{cite book|author=Marvalee H. Wake|title= Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs: Small Doses for Small Animals |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nwQ3TvOMWxwC&pg=PA206|year=1999|publisher=North Atlantic Books|isbn= 978-1-55643-295-8 |page=206}}

In the human female, the urethra is about 4 cm long,{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/920806541|title=Gray's Anatomy: The Anatomical Basis of Clinical Practice |publisher=Elsevier Limited |editor=Standring, Susan|isbn=9780702052309|edition=41st|location=Philadelphia|oclc=920806541|year=2016|chapter=Bladder, prostate and urethra|pages=1261–1266}} having 6 mm diameter, and exits the body between the clitoris and the vaginal opening, extending from the internal to the external urethral orifice. The meatus is located below the clitoris. It is placed behind the symphysis pubis, embedded in the anterior wall of the vagina, and its direction is obliquely downward and forward; it is slightly curved with the concavity directed forward. The proximal two-thirds of the urethra is lined by transitional epithelial cells, while the distal third is lined by stratified squamous epithelial cells.Manual of Obstetrics. (3rd ed.). Elsevier. pp. 1-16. {{ISBN|9788131225561}}.

Between the superior and inferior fascia of the urogenital diaphragm, the female urethra is surrounded by the urethral sphincter.

The urethra in female placental mammals is typically shorter than in the male.

The cells lining the urethra (the epithelium) start off as transitional cells as it exits the bladder, which are variable layers of flat to cuboidal cells that change shape depending on whether they are compressed by the contents of the urethra.{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Barbara |last2=O'Dowd |first2=Geraldine |last3=Woodford |first3=Phillip |title=Wheater's functional histology: a text and colour atlas.|publisher=Elsevier |location=Philadelphia |date=2013|isbn=9780702047473 |edition=6th|chapter=Male reproductive system|page=349}} Further along the urethra there are pseudostratified columnar and stratified columnar epithelia. The lining becomes multiple layers of flat cells near the end of the urethra, which is the same as the external skin around it.

There are small mucus-secreting urethral glands, as well as bulbo-urethral glands of Cowper, that secrete mucous acting to lubricate the urethra.

The urethra consists of three coats: muscular, erectile, and mucous, the muscular layer being a continuation of that of the bladder.

Somatic (conscious) innervation of the external urethral sphincter is supplied by the pudendal nerve.

{{Further|Development of the urinary system}}

In the developing embryo, at the hind end lies a cloaca. This, over the fourth to the seventh week, divides into a urogenital sinus and the beginnings of the anal canal, with a wall forming between these two inpouchings called the urorectal septum.{{cite book |last1=Sadley |first1=TW |title=Langman's medical embryology |date=2019|location=Philadelphia|publisher=Wolters Kluwer |isbn=9781496383907 |edition=14th|section=Bladder and urethra|pages=263–66}} The urogenital sinus divides into three parts, with the middle part forming the urethra; the upper part is largest and becomes the urinary bladder, and the lower part then changes depending on the biological sex of the embryo. The cells lining the urethra (the epithelium) come from endoderm, whereas the connective tissue and smooth muscle parts are derived from mesoderm.

After the third month, urethra also contributes to the development of associated structures depending on the biological sex of the embryo. In the male, the epithelium multiples to form the prostate. In the female, the upper part of the urethra forms the urethra and paraurethral glands.

{{See also|Urination}}

The urethra is the vessel through which urine passes after leaving the bladder. During urination, the smooth muscle lining the urethra relaxes in concert with bladder contraction(s) to forcefully expel the urine in a pressurized stream. Following this, the urethra re-establishes muscle tone by contracting the smooth muscle layer, and the bladder returns to a relaxed, quiescent state. Urethral smooth muscle cells are mechanically coupled to each other to coordinate mechanical force and electrical signaling in an organized, unitary fashion.{{cite journal | vauthors = Kyle BD | title = Ion Channels of the Mammalian Urethra | journal = Channels | volume = 8 | issue = 5 | pages = 393–401 | date = Aug 2014 | pmid = 25483582 | doi = 10.4161/19336950.2014.954224 | pmc=4594508}}

The male urethra is the conduit for semen during orgasm. Urine is removed before ejaculation by pre-ejaculate fluid – called Cowper's fluid – from the bulbourethral gland.{{cite journal |last1=Killick |first1=Stephen R. |last2=Leary |first2=Christine |last3=Trussell |first3=James |last4=Guthrie |first4=Katherine A. |title=Sperm content of pre-ejaculatory fluid |journal=Human Fertility |date=15 December 2010 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=48–52 |doi=10.3109/14647273.2010.520798 |pmid=21155689 |pmc=3564677 }}{{Cite journal|vauthors=Chughtai B, Sawas A, O'Malley RL, Naik RR, Ali Khan S, Pentyala S |title=A neglected gland: a review of Cowper's gland |journal=Int. J. Androl. |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=74–7 |date=April 2005 |pmid=15811067 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2605.2005.00499.x |s2cid=32553227 |doi-access=free }}

File:Urethral urothelial cell carcinoma.jpg of urethral cancer (urothelial cell carcinoma), a rare problem of the urethra.]]

Infection of the urethra is urethritis, which often causes purulent urethral discharge. It is most often due to a sexually transmitted infection such as gonorrhoea or chlamydia, and less commonly due to other bacteria such as ureaplasma or mycoplasma; trichomonas vaginalis; or the viruses herpes simplex virus and adenovirus. Investigations such as a gram stain of the discharge might reveal the cause; nucleic acid testing based on the first urine sample passed in a day, or a swab of the urethra sent for bacterial culture and sensitivity may also be used. Treatment usually involves antibiotics that treat both gonorrhoea and chlamydia, as these often occur together. A person being treated for urethritis should not have sex until the infection is treated, so that they do not spread the infection to others. Because of this spread, which may occur during an incubation period before a person gets symptoms, there is often contact tracing so that sexual partners of an affected person can be found and treatment offered.{{cite book|title=Davidson's principles and practice of medicine|last1=Ralston |first1=Stuart H. |last2=Penman |first2=Ian D. |last3=Strachan |first3=Mark W. |last4=Hobson |first4=Richard P.|date=2018 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-7020-7028-0 |edition=23rd|page=333|section=Urethral discharge}}

Cancer can also develop in the lining of the urethra.{{cite book|title=Davidson's principles and practice of medicine|last1=Ralston |first1=Stuart H. |last2=Penman |first2=Ian D. |last3=Strachan |first3=Mark W. |last4=Hobson |first4=Richard P.|date=2018 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-7020-7028-0 |edition=23rd|pages=435–6|section=Urothelial tumours}} When cancer is present, the most common symptom in an affected person is blood in the urine; a physical medical examination may be otherwise normal, except in late disease. Cancer of the urethra is most often due to cancer of the cells lining the urethra, called transitional cell carcinoma, although it can more rarely occur as a squamous cell carcinoma if the type of cells lining the urethra have changed, such as due to a chronic schistosomiasis infection. Investigations performed usually include collecting a sample of urine for an inspection for malignant cells under a microscope, called cytology, as well as examination with a flexible camera through the urethra, called urethroscopy. If a malignancy is found, a biopsy will be taken, and a CT scan will be performed of other body parts (a CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis) to look for additional {{wt|en|metastatic}} lesions. After the cancer is staged, treatment may involve chemotherapy.{{uncited|date=July 2020}}

Passage of kidney stones through the urethra can be painful. Damage to the urethra, such as by kidney stones, chronic infection, cancer, or from catheterisation, can lead to narrowing, called a urethral stricture.{{cite web | title = Urethral stricture | publisher = Mayo Clinic | date = 12 December 2018 | url = https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/urethral-stricture/symptoms-causes/syc-20362330 | access-date = 15 May 2020}} The location and structure of the narrowing can be investigated with a medical imaging scan in which dye is injected through the urinary meatus into the urethra, called a retrograde urethrogram.{{Cite journal|last1=Maciejewski|first1=Conrad|last2=Rourke|first2=Keith|date=2015-12-02|title=Imaging of urethral stricture disease|url=http://tau.amegroups.com/article/view/5675|journal=Translational Andrology and Urology|language=en|volume=4|issue=1|pages=2–9|doi=10.3978/j.issn.2223-4683.2015.02.03|pmid=26816803|pmc=4708283|issn=2223-4691}} Additional forms of imaging, such as ultrasound, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging may also be used to provide further details.

Injuries to the urethra (e.g., from a pelvic fracture{{cite journal|vauthors=Stein DM, Santucci RA |title=An update on urotrauma|journal=Current Opinion in Urology|volume=25|issue=4|pages=323–30|date=July 2015|pmid=26049876|doi=10.1097/MOU.0000000000000184|s2cid=26994715}})

Foreign bodies in the urethra are uncommon, but there have been medical case reports of self-inflicted injuries, a result of insertion of foreign bodies into the urethra such as an electrical wire.{{cite journal |doi=10.1186/1752-1947-3-49 |title=Electrical wire as a foreign body in a male urethra: a case report |year=2009 |last1=Stravodimos |first1=Konstantinos G |last2=Koritsiadis |first2=Georgios |last3=Koutalellis |first3=Georgios |journal=Journal of Medical Case Reports |volume=3 |pages=49 |pmid=19192284 |pmc=2649937 |doi-access=free }}

Hypospadias and epispadias are forms of abnormal development of the urethra in the male, where the meatus is not located at the distal end of the penis (it occurs lower than normal with hypospadias, and higher with epispadias). In a severe chordee, the urethra can develop between the penis and the scrotum.

A tube called a catheter can be inserted through the urethra to drain urine from the bladder, called an indwelling urinary catheter; or, to bypass the urethra, a catheter may be directly inserted through the abdominal wall into the bladder, called a suprapubic catheter. This may be to relieve or bypass an obstruction, to monitor how much urine someone produces, or because a person has difficulty urinating, for example due to a neurological cause such as multiple sclerosis. Complications that are associated with catheter insertion can include catheter-associated infections, injury to the urethra or nearby structures, or pain.{{cite web |title=Urinary catheters - NHS |url=https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/urinary-catheters/ |website=nhs.uk |access-date=2 July 2020 |language=en |date=26 February 2020}}

In all mammals, with the exception of monotremes, and in both sexes, the urethra serves primarily to drain and excrete urine, which in mammals, collects in the urinary bladder and is released from there into the urethra. In addition, the closing mechanisms of the urethra, together with immunoglobulins, largely prevent germs from penetrating the inside of the body.{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Michaeltitle=Microbial Inhabitants of Humans: Their Ecology and Role in Health and Disease | title=Microbial Inhabitants of Humans: Their Ecology and Role in Health and Disease |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-521-84158-0 |page=195|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q9Qx9oRKO_kC}} In marsupials, the female's urethra empties into the urogenital sinus.{{cite book|author1=Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe|author2=Marilyn Renfree|title=Reproductive Physiology of Marsupials|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpjovN0vXW4C&q=%22urogenital+sinus%22+urethra+marsupial&pg=PA172|date=30 January 1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-33792-2|pages=172–}}

The word "urethra" comes from the Ancient Greek οὐρήθρα – ourḗthrā. The stem "uro" relating to urination, with the structure described as early as the time of Hippocrates.{{cite journal |last1=Marx |first1=Franz Josef |last2=Karenberg |first2=Axel |title=Uro-words making history: Ureter and urethra |journal=The Prostate |date=2010 |volume=70 |issue=9 |pages=952–958 |doi=10.1002/pros.21129|pmid=20166127 |s2cid=32778667 |doi-access=free }} Confusingly however, at the time it was called "ureter". Thereafter, terms "ureter" and "urethra" were variably used to refer to each other thereafter for more than a millennia. It was only in the 1550s that anatomists such as Bartolomeo Eustacchio and Jacques Dubois began to use the terms to specifically and consistently refer to what is in modern English called the ureter and the urethra. Following this, in the 19th and 20th centuries, multiple terms relating to the structures such as urethritis and urethrography, were coined.

Kidney stones have been identified and recorded about as long as written historical records exist.{{cite journal |last1=Tefekli |first1=Ahmet |last2=Cezayirli |first2=Fatin |title=The History of Urinary Stones: In Parallel with Civilization |journal=The Scientific World Journal |date=2013 |volume=2013 |page=423964 |doi=10.1155/2013/423964 |pmid=24348156 |pmc=3856162 |doi-access=free }} The urinary tract as well as its function to drain urine from the kidneys, has been described by Galen in the second century AD.{{cite journal |last1=Nahon |first1=Irmina |last2=Waddington |first2=Gordon |last3=Dorey |first3=Grace |last4=Adams |first4=Roger |title=The History of Urologic Surgery: From Reeds to Robotics |journal=Urologic Nursing |date=2011 |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=173–180 |doi=10.7257/1053-816X.2011.31.3.173 |pmid=21805756 }} Surgery to the urethra to remove kidney stones has been described since at least the first century AD by Aulus Cornelius Celsus.

File:Prostatelead.jpg|Position of the urethra in males

File:Gray1155 a.png|Transverse section of the penis

File:Male urinary meatus.jpg|Male urethral opening on glans penis

File:Skenes gland.jpg|Female urethral opening within vulval vestibule

File:1116 Muscle of the Female Perineum.png|Muscles of the female perineum

File:Slide12BLA.JPG|Urethra. Deep dissection. Serial cross section.

File:Penis lateral cross section.jpg|Diagram which depicts the membranous urethra and the spongy urethra of a male

File:Female vaginal anatomy.jpg

• Perineal urethra
• Vulvovaginal health
• Urethral glands
• Urethral sponge
• Sexual stimulation: Urethral sounding and Urethral intercourse
• Urethrorrhagia
• Urethrotomy
• Urethrectomy
• Internal urethral orifice

{{Reflist}}

• {{KansasHistology|epithel|epith07}} "Male Urethra"

{{Human systems and organs}}

{{Urinary system anatomy}}

{{Male reproductive system}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Mammal reproductive system

Category:Urinary system

Category:Human reproductive system