Easily removable ureteral catheters for internal drainage in children: a preliminary report.
OBJECTIVE
We review our experience using a new and easily removable ureteral catheter in patients who underwent complicated ureteral reimplantation. Our goal was to shorten hospital stay and lower anxiety during catheter removal without fear of postoperative ureteral obstruction.


METHODS
Between April 2009 and September 2010, nine patients who underwent our new method of catheter removal after ureteral reimplantation were enrolled. Patients who underwent simple ureteral reimplantation were excluded from the study. Following ureteral reimplantation, a combined drainage system consisting of a suprapubic cystostomy catheter and a ureteral catheter was installed. Proximal external tubing was clamped with a Hem-o-lok clamp and the rest of the external tubing was eliminated. Data concerning the age and sex of each patient, reason for operation, method of ureteral reimplantation, and postoperative parameters such as length of hospital stay and complications were recorded.


RESULTS
Of the nine patients, four had refluxing megaureter, four had a solitary or non-functional contralateral kidney and one had ureteral stricture due to a previous anti-reflux operation. The catheter was removed at postoperative week one. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 2.4 days (range 1-4 days), and the mean follow-up was 9.8 months. None of the patients had postoperative ureteral obstructions, and there were no cases of migration or dislodgement of the catheter.


CONCLUSIONS
Our new method for removing the ureteral catheter would shorten hospital stays and lower levels of anxiety when removing ureteral catheters in patients with a high risk of postoperative ureteral obstruction.
Department of Urology, Jeju National University College of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
Kyung Kgi
KK
Park
Myung Up
MU
Kim
Mun Su
MS
Chung
Dong Hoon
DH
Lee
Chang Hee
CH
Hong
D002404:Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062885:Urinary Catheters; D014718:Vesico-Ureteral Reflux / Q000601:surgery