Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Urological complication is one of common surgical complications following transplantation and severely threatens renal function, even patient’s lives. Urological complications following renal transplantation mainly contain urinary fistula, ureteral obstruction and ureter backflow.
OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively analyze the incidence and management of urological complications following kidney transplantation.
METHODS: A total of 1 223 patient times following kidney transplants were selected at the Department of Urology, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University of Chinese PLA from December 1993 to April 2007. According to ureter of donor kidney and the urinary tract of recipients, ureteroneocystostomy was used for urinary tract reconstitution in 948 patient times, and end-to-end ureteroureterostomy in 275 patient times. Urological complications such as urinary fistula, ureteral obstruction and vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) were treated by the different methods on the basis of the different causes, mainly by surgical procedures. Reason of urological complications, surgical management of urological complications and its clinical outcome, the 3-year survival rate of grafted kidney were measured.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In a total of 1 223 patients, urological complications were encountered in 92 cases (7.5%), including 43 cases of urinary fistula (3.5%), 35 ureteral obstruction (2.9%), 14 VUR (1.1%). 35 cases of urinary fistula, 29 ureteral obstruction, 6 VUR were cured by surgical procedures including ureteroureterostomy in 35 patients (50%), revision of ureteroneocystostomy in 18 (25.7%), endourology in 11 (15.7%) and other operation in 6 (9.6%). All recipients with urological complications regained normal graft function except one undoing transplanted nephrectomy due to the pelvis and urteral necrosis. There was no grafted kidney and recipient loss secondary to these complications in the present series. The 3-year survival rate of graft with urological complications and without urological complications did not show significant difference (P > 0.05). These indicated that most of urological complications following kidney transplantation request surgical management, and ureteroureterostomy are frequently used. The long-term graft survival is not affected by a correctly treated urological complication.