Early repair of pelvic and abdominal nonurological surgery-induced iatrogenic ureteral injuries in three distinct waiting-for-repair time periods.

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the time from pelvic and abdominal nonurological surgery-induced iatrogenic ureteral injuries to repair associates with outcomes. We retrospectively reviewed 81 cases of pelvic and abdominal nonurological surgery-induced iatrogenic ureteral injuries occurring in 78 patients treated at our hospital from January 2000 to December 2009. Time between injury and surgical repair, operative times, and incidence of complications were compared. Lower ureteral segment injuries occurred in 66 cases, middle segment injuries in 13, and upper segment injuries in two. Surgical repair methods included 36 ureteroneocystostomies, 17 ureteroneocystostomy with psoas hitch, 14 ureteroureterostomies/ureteral end-to-end anastomosis, and 10 ureteroneocystostomies with a Boari flap. Immediate intraoperative repair was carried out in 23 cases. In 42 cases, repair was delayed as a result of late identification and performed within 1 month after surgery. In 10 cases, repair was performed 3 months after surgery. No significant differences were observed in operative times of repair surgeries or incidence of postoperative complications. Delayed discovery of iatrogenic ureteral injury can still result in good therapeutic effects if the surgical repair is done within 1 month after injury under the premise that no serious urinary tract infection is present and the patient can tolerate surgery.