Peritoneal Graft Reinforcement in Lower Urinary Tract Injury

To aid healing in urinary tract injuries, autologous tissue flaps such as the omentum and peritoneum are used at the repair site. The use of a tissue flap is limited by the available length. To overcome this limitation, peritoneal graft tissue can be used. Since these peritoneal tissue grafts have the ability to transdifferentiate, they can facilitate tissue regeneration. In our study, we utilize the peritoneal layer as an interpositional graft to improve healing in complex lower urinary tract injuries.

It is a retrospective observational study of 6 cases of urinary tract injuries, conducted over 22 months.

All cases belong to complex categories as caused by postradiotherapy treatment or involving multiple bladder defects or rents larger than 2 cm. In each case, peritoneal tissue grafts of varying dimensions were used based on the size of the defect. Follow-up at 3 months showed normal sonographic findings in bladder and ureter repair cases. There were no instances of incontinence or fistula recurrence. Tissue engineering studies in animal models also support the use of peritoneal grafts for reconstructing or repairing urinary tract defects.

Peritoneal tissue grafts can be used for internal organ tissue repair due to their transdifferentiation properties, although this requires further validation.