[Circle tube nephrostomy--designing of a circle tube and connector].

We performed circle tube nephrostomy in 17 patients using a newly designed catheter. The catheter which we called 'Chiba Nephrostomy Circle tube' consisted of a silicon tube which has three holes in the middle portion, and a metal connector. The renal function recovered to normal in 12 of the 17 patients (recovery rate 71%), improved in 4 (24%), and remained unchanged in only one patient. Although temporal urinary leakage occurred in 5 patients (29%), there were no serious complications with this newly designed tube. Furthermore, pyelonephritis, renal bleeding and urolithiasis, which occasionally occur by single nephrostomy, did not occur with this method. Thus, we proved the clinical usefulness of the newly designed circle tube.