A radiological approach to the through and through technique for percutaneous passage of ureteric strictures

Placement of double-J ureteric stent using the pull-through technique in patients with tight ureteric stenosis

BACKGROUND

To evaluate the efficacy of antegrade insertion of the ureteric stent using pull-through technique in tight ureteric stricture that a guide-wire traversed, but a 5-F catheter could not.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Seven patients (M:F = 2:5, mean age 56 years) who underwent antegrade ureteric stent insertion using pull-through technique due to tight ureteric stricture were retrospectively evaluated. The strictures were due to impacted ureter stone (n = 3), metastasis from rectal cancer (n = 1), and idiopathic ureter stricture (n = 3). After failing to traverse a 5-F catheter through the stricture along the guide-wire, a 7-F introducer sheath was inserted through the urethra. The distal end of the guide-wire was snared and retrieved through the urethral introducer sheath. Then using pull-through technique, antegrade ureteric stent insertion was performed.

RESULTS

Double-J ureteric stent was successfully placed in all seven patients using the pull-through technique. Complications included abdominal/flank pain (n = 7), gross hematuria (n = 5) and elevated blood pressure (n = 1). All complications were relieved within 3 days after the procedure with conservative treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Antegrade double-J ureteric stent insertion using the pull-through technique is a safe and useful method, which can be used in tight ureteric strictures, where a ureteric stent cannot follow the passed guide wire.

Crossing ureteric strictures: microcatheters to the rescue when conventional methods fail

Tight distal ureteric strictures can be most challenging to traverse both from above, by interventional radiologists, and below, by urologists. Despite the advent of numerous guidewires, manufactured from different materials, often ureteric strictures are too tight to allow conventional guidewires to pass through. We describe an alternative approach to cross tight ureteric strictures, using a microguidewire and microcatheter combination.

Obstructive uropathy

Recent study has increased the understanding of the physiological processes occurring in obstructive uropathy, in particular the role played by vasoactive mediators and cellular mechanisms. There is an emphasis on developing effective and less invasive means of detection and treatment of ureteric obstruction, although it remains to be determined how the techniques currently being assessed will impact on clinical practice.