Experience of Lymphangiography as a Therapeutic Tool for Lymphatic Leakage After Kidney Transplantation

Lymphatic leakage after kidney transplantation is a relatively frequent complication but sometimes resistant to treatment, and there is no fixed treatment algorithm. The effectiveness of therapeutic lymphangiography for postoperative lymphatic or chyle leakage has been reported, but few reports are available regarding patients who have undergone kidney transplantation. In this study, we report our experience with lymphangiography as a therapeutic tool for lymphatic leakage after kidney transplantation.

Intranodal lymphangiography for lymphatic leakage was performed in 4 patients (3 male, 1 female; age range, 38 to 70 years old) after living kidney transplantation at the Osaka City University Hospital in Japan. The amount of drainage before lymphangiography was 169 to 361 mL/day. The procedure for intranodal lymphangiography was as follows: the inguinal lymph node was punctured under ultrasound guidance, and the tip of the needle was instilled at the junction between the cortex and the hilum, after which Lipiodol was slowly and manually injected.

Lymphangiography was technically successful in 3 out of the 4 patients. In all successful cases, the amount of drainage decreased and leakage finally stopped without additional therapy such as sclerotherapy or fenestration. In 2 cases, we were able to directly detect the leakage site using lymphangiography. The time between lymphangiography and leakage resolution ranged from 8 to 13 days. There were neither complications of lymphangiography nor recurrence of lymphatic leakage in the successful cases.

Intranodal lymphangiography may be not only a diagnostic tool but also an effective, minimally-invasive, and safe method for treatment of lymphatic leakage resistant to drainage after kidney transplantation.