Percutaneous Nephrostomy: Experience in 276 Cases

Ahn, Jae Cheon; Choi, Jae Ho; Lee, Chang Kyu; Choi, Seong; Kim, Jong Chul; Rhew, Hyun Yul

Abstract

Today, percutaneous nephrostomy and other related renal procedures are routine in most hospitals. This technique provides safe, rapid and direct access to the upper urinary tract for various diagnostic and therapeutic maneuvers. It has become a vital tool for the urologists who have been able to diagnose and treat ever more diverse pathologies of the urinary tract without open operation. Percutaneous nephrostomy was done on 276 cases with advanced malignancy and benign conditions during the period of March, 1985 to December, 1993. We were successful in using percutaneous nephrostomy as urinary diversion to ureteral obstruction or urinary leakage in 27l cases( 98% ). In four fifths of patients, obstruction was due to neoplasm, with the cervical cancer the leading cause. The post-nephrostomy complications were bleeding in 10 cases, enterocutaneous fistula in 4, perinephric abscess in 3 and sepsis in 1. Percutaneous nephrostomy proved to be ideally suited in condition of obstructive uropathy and urine leakage.