Percutaneous treatment of large upper tract stones after urinary diversion

Abstract

Objectives: To present our experience in percutaneous management of large upper tract stones after urinary diversion.

Methods: From October 1984 to March 2005, 20 percutaneous nephrolithotomy and 4 antegrade ureteroscopy procedures were performed in 17 men and 7 women, with a mean age of 53.5 years. The urinary diversions were an ileal W neobladder, hemi-Kock pouch, ileal conduit, and rectal bladder in 10, 7, 4, and 3 patients, respectively. The median interval between diversion and stone management was 1.5 years. Success was defined as a stone-free, nonobstructed renal unit at 3 months after the intervention. Follow-up was performed every 6 months with intravenous urography or noncontrast computed tomography for diagnosis of stone recurrence and evaluation of renal morphology.

Results: Renal punctures were guided with ultrasonography in 18 patients (75%) and fluoroscopy in 6 patients. One intraoperative complication (4.16%) and two postoperative complications (8.3%) occurred. All patients with ureteral stones became stone free after one procedure. Auxiliary procedures were needed in 5 patients after percutaneous nephrolithotomy; 2 patients required a second session and 3 needed extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. The overall success rate was 87.5% (21 patients). One patient with treatment failure underwent open surgery, and two with small residual fragments were followed up. Long-term follow-up data were available for 15 patients. The stone recurrence rate was 33.3% (5 patients) after a median follow-up of 40 months (range 14 to 132). Recurrent stones were treated with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

Conclusions: The results of our study have demonstrated that percutaneous treatment of large upper tract stones after urinary diversion offers a high success rate with minimal morbidity. However, regular follow-up after treatment is recommended.