Decision analysis of left renal vein stenting and renal autotransplantation for Nutcracker syndrome

Management strategies for Nutcracker syndrome (NCS) differ across vascular and transplant surgery, with options such as left renal vein stenting and renal autotransplantation offering potential long-term pain relief.

A decision-analytic Markov state transition model was generated to simulate NCS management strategies over a two-year time horizon: Stent First, Autotransplantation, Stent Only, and No Intervention.

Autotransplantation achieved the highest rate of pain resolution at 77.0 ​% followed by Stent First at 64.9 ​% after two years. Stent Only and No Intervention demonstrated the lowest rates of pain resolution at 51.8 ​% and 0 ​%, respectively. The estimated cumulative morphine milligram equivalents (MMEs) over the simulated two-year period were approximately 5037 MMEs for Autotransplantation, 7684 MMEs for Stent First, 10,556 MMEs for Stent Only, and 21,900 MMEs for No Intervention.

Renal autotransplantation was associated with higher rates of pain resolution and lower opioid usage over a simulated two-year period.