Incidence of Urinary Complications With Double J Stents in Kidney Transplantation

Ureteral complications remain a major source of morbidity and occasional mortality in renal transplant. Among all ureteral complications, leaks are the most frequently encountered in the early posttransplant period. The routine use of a double-J ureteric stent remains controversial, with reported increased incidence of urinary tract infection. Here, we retrospectively compared the efficacy of a double J stent in kidney transplant patients to investigate ureteral complication incidence in our center.

Our study included 382 kidney transplant patients. At 5 weeks after transplant, the double J stent was removed under sedation. Patients were divided into 2 groups: 125 patients with double J stent placement (group 1) and 257 patients without double J stent placement (group 2).

We observed no significant demographic differences between the 2 groups with regard to patient age (median patient age of 30 y [range, 2-73 y] for group 1; median patient age of 33 y [range, 4-69 y] for group 2), patient sex (30.2% females in group 1, 32.4% females in group 2), and body mass index (median of 25.1 vs 24.9 kg/m2 in groups 1 and 2, respectively). Cold and warm ischemia time for donor organ, delayed graft function, and episodes of acute rejection did not differ significantly between the groups. Urinary tract infection was observed in 25/125 (20.4%) and 50/257 patients (19.2%) in groups 1 and 2, respectively. Urinary leak was present in 8/125 group 1 (6.4%) and 6/257 group 2 patients (2.3%).

A double J stent in ureteral anastomosis was not likely to decrease the frequency of leakage but is likely to reduce the gravity of the complication and the need for reoperation. In addition, the use of a double J stent was not associated with increased urinary tract infections in renal transplant recipients.