Retrograde placement of ureteral stent tube for post-transplant urofistula

       Urinary fistula is one of the serious complications after renal transplantation, with an incidence of 3% to 6%, including ureteral, bladder, pelvic and calyx fistula. The main causes of urinary fistula after kidney transplantation are: damage to the blood supply of the lower pole of the kidney during removal or revision of the donor kidney, inducing necrosis of the ureteral wall and leakage of urine; accidental injury to the ureter during kidney removal that is not detected; poor technique of uretero-vesical anastomosis; necrosis of the ureter by pressure of drainage and hematoma; rejection reaction. High-dose application of hormones, etc. Although there are several methods of uretero-vesical anastomosis, there is no significant difference in the incidence of early post-transplant urinary fistula between different methods. It is controversial whether the use of double J-tube in renal transplantation can reduce the incidence of postoperative urinary fistula. In some cases of urinary fistula after renal transplantation, such as urine leakage at the bladder fissure or at the anastomosis between ureter and bladder, and the amount of urine leakage is less than 1/5 of the total urine volume in 24h, a urinary catheter can be left in place for continuous drainage of urine, and the rest of cases should be repaired by early surgical exploration. However, secondary surgery not only increases the patient’s pain, but also increases their financial burden. In 6 cases, the ureteral fistula was healed after retrograde placement of ureteral stent tube, and in 3 cases, the fistula was cured by surgical exploration because the stent tube could not be placed under cystoscopy. We believe that not all patients with urinary fistula are suitable for this method because of the different causes of urinary fistula. In our opinion, this method can be tried first in patients with a small amount of urinary leakage (probably due to a small fistula in the pelvis or a fistula in the uretero-vesical anastomosis) and without intraoperative placement of a double J tube. For larger urinary leakage (e.g., ureteral fistula due to full-length necrosis), early surgical exploration and repair is the best strategy. Before placing the stent tube, the location of the opening of the transplanted ureter should be carefully identified, which is usually located in the anterior bladder wall on the same side of the transplanted kidney. It is usually located in the anterior wall of the bladder on the same side of the transplanted kidney. There is a loss of continuity of the bladder mucosa, a depression, localized congestion, and urine flow under close observation, which can help determine the location of the graft ureteral opening. If the ureteral stent tube cannot be inserted even after several attempts, surgical exploration should be considered.