Sodium Fluorescein for Ureteral Jet Detection: A Prospective Observational Study

Laparoscopic hysterectomy poses the risk of lower urinary tract injury, and intraoperative recognition of urinary tract injury is often difficult. We sought to evaluate sodium fluorescein coloration of ureteral jets during cystoscopy after laparoscopic hysterectomy and to evaluate surgeons' satisfaction with this method of injury detection.

This was an observational study, in which data were collected prospectively. A total of 30 women who underwent laparoscopic hysterectomy from August 2016 to February 2017 at the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université Laval (CHUL) de Québec. Twenty-five milligrams of 10% intravenous sodium fluorescein was administered after vaginal cuff closure. Cystoscopy was then systematically performed, and the time to visualization (time from injection to coloration of ureteral jet), the quality of coloration, and the duration of cystoscopy were recorded. Side effects were systematically recorded and rigorously analyzed.

Most frequent indications for hysterectomy were fibroids and endometriosis with uterine weight from 76 to 885 g. Ninety-three percent of patients (n = 28) had bilateral ureteral jet coloration, whereas 1 patient had no coloration bilaterally, and another patient had a complete unilateral obstruction immediately diagnosed and resolved intraoperatively after removal of the vaginal sutures. In 90% of cases (n = 27), surgeons were highly satisfied with the use of sodium fluorescein. The average time between visualization of both left and right ureteral jets was 1 minute. Side effects included hypotension (n = 3) and yellow coloration of urine (n = 15).

Our study suggests that sodium fluorescein is an effective dye for documenting ureteral patency and improving visualization of ureteral jets during cystoscopy upon completion of laparoscopic hysterectomy.