UROLOGICAL SURVEY   ( Download pdf )

 

PEDIATRIC UROLOGY

Failed pyeloplasty in children: comparative analysis of retrograde endopyelotomy versus redo pyeloplasty
Braga LH, Lorenzo AJ, Skeldon S, Dave S, Bagli DJ, Khoury AE, Pippi Salle JL, Farhat WA
Division of Urology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
J Urol. 2007; 178: 2571-5; discussion 2575

  • Purpose: We compared retrograde endopyelotomy to redo pyeloplasty for the treatment of failed pyeloplasty in children.
  • Materials and Methods: Of 32 patients with recurrent ureteropelvic junction obstruction retrograde endopyelotomy was performed in 18 and redo pyeloplasty was performed in 14. Patient age, gender, side, stent placement at initial pyeloplasty, presentation of secondary ureteropelvic junction obstruction, hospital stay, complications and success rates were compared. Success was defined as radiographic relief of obstruction as determined by ultrasound or diuretic renography at latest followup.
  • Results: Median patient age was 6 years (range 2 to 14) at retrograde endopyelotomy and 7.2 years (1 to 17) at redo pyeloplasty. Retrograde endopyelotomy technique consisted of holmium laser in 10 patients and cautery/balloon dilation in 8. Redo pyeloplasty was performed through a flank incision in 12 patients and by laparoscopy in 2. Retrograde endopyelotomy was successful in 39% of the patients, while redo pyeloplasty had a 100% success rate (p = 0.002). Of the patients with failed retrograde endopyelotomy 5 had a stricture greater than 1 cm and 7 were younger than 4 years. Mean length of the narrowed ureteral segment was 10.1 mm in the failed retrograde endopyelotomy group vs. 5.8 mm in the successful group (p < 0.01). Only 1 of 8 children (13%) had a successful retrograde endopyelotomy using cautery followed by balloon dilation. Hospital stay was 1.3 days for the retrograde endopyelotomy group and 2.9 days for the redo pyeloplasty group (p < 0.01). Mean followup was 47 months (range 15 to 132) after retrograde endopyelotomy and 33.1 months (12 to 78) after redo pyeloplasty.
  • Conclusions: Retrograde endopyelotomy had a significantly lower success rate than redo pyeloplasty for correction of recurrent ureteropelvic junction obstruction after failed pyeloplasty in children. Patient age less than 4 years and narrowed ureteral segment greater than 10 mm were associated with a poor outcome after retrograde endopyelotomy.

  • Editorial Comment
    Redo pyeloplasty was remarkably successful with an average of a 3 day stay in the hospital. One wonders about patient selection in a study such as this, as obviously that could make a great difference in the outcome.
    These authors suggested that patients under 4 and strictures longer than a centimeter were not as well treated with endoscopic techniques. An interesting thought suggested by the authors was that patients, who did not have an initial ureteral stent and then subsequently had failure, perhaps had more urine leakage and fibrosis and were better treated by redo pyeloplasty than endoscopic techniques. The authors did not comment on whether the endoscopic techniques made redo pyeloplasty afterwards any more difficult but all their open pyeloplasties were successful after their endoscopic procedures. This is a difficult segment of patients to deal with and all of the urologic techniques should be considered. In these authors’ hands, the retrograde endopyelotomy with electrocautery was not very successful.

Dr. Brent W. Snow
Division of Urology
University of Utah Health Sci Ctr
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
E-mail: brent.snow@hsc.utah.edu