Mini incision open pyeloplasty - Improvement in patient outcome

PURPOSE: To assess the subjective and objective outcomes of mini-incision dismembered Anderson-Hynes pyeloplasty in the treatment of primary ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2008 to January 2013, Anderson-Hynes pyeloplasty was performed in 71 patients diagnosed with primary UPJO. Small subcostal muscle splitting incision was used in all cases. Sixteen patients with renal calculi underwent concomitant pyelolithotomy. Subjective outcome was assessed using visual pain analogue score (VAS). For objective assessment, the improvement in differential renal function (DRF) and radio-tracer wash out time (T1/2) on Tc-99m DTPA scan and decrease in hydronephrosis (HDN) on renal ultrasound (USG) and urography (IVU) were assessed. RESULTS: Mean incision length was 5.2 cm. The average operating time and postoperative hospital stay was 63 (52-124) minutes and 2.5 (2–6) days respectively. Concomitant renal calculi were successfully removed in all the patients. Overall complication rates were 8.4% and overall success rate was 98.6% at median follow-up of 16 months. There was significant improvement in pain score (p=0.0001) and significant decrease in HDN after the procedure. While preoperative mean T1/2 was 26.7±6.4 minutes, postoperative half-time decreased to 7.8±4.2 minutes at 6 months and to 6.7±3.3 minutes at 1 year. Mean pre-operative DRF was 26.45% and it was 31.38% and 33.19% at 6 months and 1 year respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Mini-incision pyeloplasty is a safe and effective technique with combined advantage of high success rates of standard open pyeloplasty with decreased morbidity of laparoscopic approach. Excellent functional and objective outcomes can be achieved without extra technical difficulty.