Diagnosis and treatment of urological complications in kidney transplants

ObjectiveTo analyze the incidence of urological complications, like fistula and stenosis in our series of 282 renal transplants and their management.Materials and methodsBetween December 1995 and October 2005, 282 adult recipients underwent renal transplant.The most common urological complication was urinary fistula. This complication was observed in 24 cases (8.5%), ureteral stenosis in 18 cases (6.4%) and both of them in 5 (1.7%). The items recorded on these patients included the time to diagnosis, the image technique, the type of ureteral stents and the clinical evolution.ResultsEndourologic treatment with percutaneos nefrostomy, double-J catheter and metalic endoprotesis was performed successfully in 76.4% of urinary fistula, in 66.7% of ureteral obstruction and in 60% of patients who developed both of them.ConclusionEndourologic procedures have replaced open reconstructive surgery in most patients with ureteral obstruction or urinary fistula after renal transplant, because they may offer a definitive treatment with low morbidity.