Minimally invasive treatment of ureterovaginal fistula: A review and report of a new technique

BACKGROUND: An iatrogenic ureterovaginal fistula (UVF) can be a consequence of difficult pelvic surgery. The patient must endure a long wait before having major surgery to reconstruct the injured ureter. Reports that address the minimally invasive treatment of UVF are limited, and are reviewed here. We introduce the concept of using a Memokath™ 051 stent (PNN A/S, Hornbaek, Denmark) as a promising minimally invasive approach for UVF. METHODS: We used PubMed, Science Direct, Google and the Cochrane Library to assemble appropriate evidence-based reference reports. The keywords used for the search were: ‘Memokath’, ‘stent’; ‘ureterovaginal fistula’ and ‘ureteral injury’. The review showed 42 relevant articles published up to September 2011. RESULTS: Ureteric stenting consistently stopped the vaginal leak of urine. The long-term results were not encouraging after removing the JJ stents at 3 months after insertion. Most patients had a recurrence of the vaginal leak of urine. The outcome was different with the Memokath stent, that remained in situ for a duration far exceeding that of the JJ stent. The Memokath stopped the vaginal leak of urine with no episodes of urinary tract infection and no evidence of stent migration. CONCLUSION: Long-term ureteric stenting has two advantages, in that it facilitates urine flow through the ureteric strictured segment down to the bladder, and it stops urine leakage along the fistula. It further promotes the resolution of the ureteric stricture and healing of the fistula. A duration of 3 months was inadequate when a JJ stent was used, whereas longer periods are possible with the Memokath stent. The optimum stenting period required for complete healing of a UVF remains to be defined. Long-term Memokath ureteric stenting can be an effective alternative and minimally invasive approach to conventional surgical repair in selected cases.