Vesicoscopic cross-trigonal ureteral reimplantation: High success rate for elimination of primary reflux.

INTRODUCTION: Open ureteral reimplantation (UR) is the gold standard for the surgical management of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). There have been increasing reports on robot-assisted UR, but this approach remains controversial due to reports suggesting increased complications and reduced success compared with open repair. This study presented extensive experience with vesicoscopic ureteral reimplantation (VR) for primary reflux. In this procedure, cross-trigonal reimplantation was performed in a manner analogous to open repair under carbon dioxide 'pneumovesicum'.

OBJECTIVE: To review outcomes of vesicoscopic cross-trigonal ureteral reimplantation and compare them with other minimally invasive approaches for the correction of reflux.

STUDY DESIGN: All patients who underwent VR at the current institution were retrospectively reviewed. The following were recorded for each patient: age, sex, grade of reflux, operative time, outcome, and complications.

RESULTS: The series consisted of 182 consecutive patients who underwent VR. There were 165 girls and 17 boys. Mean age was 7.03 years (range 16 months-38.2 years). Fifteen had failed prior injection therapy. Of the 182 patients, 135 underwent bilateral repairs and 47 unilateral. Mean operative time for bilateral repairs was 197 (112-284) minutes and 169 (99-288) for unilateral. Major complications included two ureteral obstructions: one resolved with stent placement and the other underwent re-operative reimplantation. Postoperative voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) was obtained in 100 patients and was normal in 93 (93%). Four of these failures occurred in the first 30 patients. Of the last 49 patients tested, 48 were normal, suggesting a 98% effective success rate after the learning curve.

DISCUSSION: Vesicoscopic ureteral reimplantation is an approach that completely recreates all aspects of open cross-trigonal repair. Complications were uncommon and success rates were very high in the current study.

CONCLUSIONS: Vesicoscopic ureteral reimplantation is a minimally invasive procedure for the definitive repair of primary reflux. After the learning curve at the current institution, success rates were found to be equivalent to open repair and were higher than published reports of robot-assisted procedures.