Is postoperative cystography necessary after ureteral reimplantation?

To evaluate the patients in our practice to determine whether postoperative cystography was useful in monitoring the outcome after ureteroneocystostomy. Surgical repair of vesicoureteral reflux is the treatment of choice after medical therapy failure. Radiographic evaluation by ultrasonography or voiding cystourethrography (VCUG) is commonly used postoperatively to evaluate for urinary tract obstruction or persistent reflux. However, imaging modalities are not without cost, both in monetary terms and in terms of radiation exposure and trauma to the child.

We reviewed the records of all patients who underwent ureteroneocystostomy without ureteral tapering at our institution between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 1999 for primary vesicoureteral reflux. These records were evaluated with respect to the type of surgical procedure, preoperative and postoperative clinical course, and radiographic studies performed.

We performed reimplantation on 267 renal units in 153 patients. The surgical technique was the Cohen cross-trigonal in 120 renal units (45%), Glenn-Anderson ureteral advancement in 92 (35%), and modified Leadbetter-Politano ureteral advancement in 55 (20%). All patients underwent imaging with ultrasonography within 6 weeks of surgery. The follow-up ranged from 4 to 42 months (average 14.2). Between 3 and 8 months postoperatively, 61 patients underwent imaging with VCUG. We identified persistent reflux in six renal units. Four of six had marked improvement in their reflux. All the patients with persistent reflux were asymptomatic, including 2 patients who were no longer receiving antibiotics. Four patients developed febrile urinary tract infections postoperatively. Three of the four underwent imaging with VCUG after treatment; all three had no evidence of reflux.

In our population, the addition of VCUG to the postoperative evaluation did not allow us to identify those patients at risk of febrile urinary tract infections. Patients in whom persistent reflux was identified were all asymptomatic. We continue to monitor patients with ultrasonography, but believe that VCUG often provides little benefit to these children.