Systemic chemotherapy in patients with indwelling ureteral stenting

We investigated whether systemic chemotherapy increased episodes of acute pyelonephritis (APN) in patients with an indwelling double-J stent due to non-urological malignant ureteral obstruction.

A retrospective study was performed on a total of 74 patients (16 men and 58 women; median age, 53.0; range, 34-84 years) with non-urological malignant ureteral obstruction, who were managed by double-J stenting between October 1997 and December 2001. The patients were divided into those who received (33 patients, group I) and those who did not receive systemic chemotherapy (41 patients, group II) during the stent indwelling period (median, 7.0; range, 1-44 month). Routine antibiotic prophylaxis was not administered to any patient. Median follow-up was 10.5 (range, 1-45) months. Clinical features, including the incidence of febrility and APN, were compared between the two groups.

Of the 74 patients, 18 patients (24.3%) experienced acute febrile episodes during ureteral stenting, but only five (6.8%) patients were diagnosed as having APN. No significant difference in the incidence of fever or APN was found between the two groups (P = 1.000 and P = 0.651, respectively). Univariate logistic analysis indicated that only the duration of follow-up was a risk factor for an episode of fever. Other parameters had no clinical significance.

Our findings suggest that systemic chemotherapy may not predispose the risk of acute pyelonephritis in patients with an indwelling ureteral stent due to non-urological malignant ureteral obstruction.