Minimally invasive treatment of celiac disease

  Celiac disease is a common urological condition that can occur at any age and is common in middle-aged people. There are two main categories of etiology: 1. parasitic: the majority due to filariasis; 2. non-parasitic: chronic progressive lesions such as tuberculosis and malignancy.  The pathogenesis of celiac disease has long been debated, and the traditional theory of thoracic duct obstruction has been rejected by a large number of lymphovascular studies and clinical studies. Xie Tong et al. reported that lymphangiography in 132 patients with celiac disease did not reveal any lymphovascular obstruction. It is a widely accepted view that the main pathogenesis of celiac disease is the alteration of lymphatic system dynamics. When the human body is infected with filarial worms and the adult worms are parasitized in the deep lymphatic system of the human body, they destroy the lymphatic vessel walls and valves in the central part of the celiac pond, lumbar, and near the common intestinal trunk, and the elasticity of the thicker lymphatic vessels and the flow rate of lymphatic fluid are affected. The pressure in the lymphatic duct increases and the lymphatic fluid kinetics are changed due to reflux accumulation, which enters the renal lymphatic duct and flows out through the rupture near the renal papilla and mixes with urine to form celiac disease. When the pressure in the lymphatic vessels increases and ruptures, the lymphatic fluid containing high protein destroys the surrounding capillaries, which collapse in the renal papillae, leading to celiac disease.  Celiac disease mostly develops after a high-fat meal, exertion, heavy physical labor, etc. It can be reduced or disappeared by rest and lying down, and in severe cases, long-term celiac disease or even celiac hematuria, the patient shows symptoms of malnutrition such as anemia, emaciation and swelling of the lower limbs, etc. Shailendra classifies celiac disease into 3 grades: grade 1, only milky white urine; grade 2, combined with white celiac masses or occasional celiac masses; grade 3, combined with Grade 3, combined with bloody celiac disease.  Treatment of celiac disease should be individualized according to the degree of celiac disease and the patient’s general condition. For patients with mild celiac disease, diet control, rest and herbal treatment can improve, while most patients with severe celiac disease are treated with renal pelvic drug infusion or surgery. There are many surgical methods to treat celiac disease, including two types of shunts and disconnections, such as renal lymphatic vessel ligation and inguinal lymphatic vessel saphenous vein anastomosis, among which renal lymphatic vessel ligation is the most effective. In 1995, CHIU et al. first applied posterior laparoscopic lymphatic reflux in the kidney. In 1995, CHIU et al. first applied posterior laparoscopic renal lymphadenectomy to treat a case of recurrent celiac disease successfully.  Indications for laparoscopic renal tubular lymphadenectomy: 1. Long history of celiac disease with severe symptoms accompanied by celiac hematuria, resulting in serious long-term loss of nutrients affecting life and labor; 2. Those who have failed through various non-surgical or surgical treatments in Chinese and Western medicine; 3. Frequent blockage of the urethra by celiac masses or urinary retention; 4. Those who have cystoscopy confirmed one or both ureteral orifices spraying celiac disease.  For patients with a history of lumbar surgery or a history of recurrent perirenal inflammatory episodes, laparoscopic surgery is contraindicated due to the heavier perirenal adhesions and significantly increased difficulty of surgical treatment.  Whether traditional open surgery or laparoscopic renal tubular ligation is performed, recurrence of celiac disease may occur after surgery. Brunkwall et al. suggested that recurrence immediately after surgery may be due to a missed lymphatic vessel or a lymphatic fistula located in the ureter or bladder; those with no significant postoperative improvement may also have celiac disease of contralateral origin; late recurrence Late recurrence may be due to incomplete ligation, contralateral source or recanalization of the lymphatic fistula on the operated side.  According to our observation, the main reasons for recurrence of celiac disease after surgery are: 1. Traditional open surgery requires a large incision to reveal the renal tip, and repeated intraoperative retraction of the renal tip also affects the renal blood supply, and the limited visual field may miss the smaller lymphatic vessels, which directly leads to early recurrence after surgery; 2. Celiac disease occurs in the contralateral kidney.  Traditional open lymphatic ligation requires a large incision in the lumbar region, extensive separation of retroperitoneal tissues during surgery, long operation time, slow postoperative recovery, and poor exposure of the kidney tip, which can easily miss small lymphatic vessels due to visualization and other factors resulting in a certain recurrence rate. With the progress and maturity of minimally invasive technology, laparoscopic nephrolithiasis ligation has been carried out in many hospitals. It is the most ideal surgical method for the treatment of celiac disease because of its advantages of less trauma, shorter operation time, less intraoperative bleeding, complete lymphatic vessel ligation, fewer complications, shorter postoperative hospital stay and faster recovery.