The surgical approach to urological complications in renal allotransplant recipients

Urinary extravasation or ureteral obstruction occurred in 22 patients who received 30 transplants in a series of 290 renal transplants. This incidence represent 10.3 per cent of the entire transplant experience at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Baltimore City Hospitals from 1968 to the present time. Ureteroneocystostomy was used as the primary form of urinary tract reconstruction in all but 1 patient who had urinary complications. These 22 patients received 30 renal transplants: 6 from living related donors and 24 from cadaver sources. There were 15 instances of urinary extravasation and 14 instances of obstruction. All but 2 fistulas were diagnosed within 30 days of the original transplant. Obstruction occurred later, with 4 cases of ureterovesical obstruction being diagnosed 3 to 5 years after the transplant procedure. The ureterovesical junction or bladder was the site of complication in 17 of the 29 instances. Surgical management in these cases was highly individualized, with successful outcomes more commonly attained in those cases characterized by obstruction. Ureteral stents were used in all but 1 secondary procedure involving the ureter and these stents were not associated with an increased incidence of urinary tract infection. Death directly related to the urological complications occurred in 2 cases, 5 patients underwent transplant nephrectomy and 2 patients died of rejection and infection more than 6 months after the urinary fistulas were successfully managed. From the original series, there are 15 of the 22 patients who have stable renal function after secondary or tertiary urological procedures on the transplanted kidney. Four patients underwent surgical correction of hydronephrosis associated with infection or diminishing renal function more than 3 years after the transplantation and 3 of these had good results.