Contribution of lumboscopy to the treatment of ureteropelvic junction syndromes, based on a series of 25 cases.

Objective : Evaluation of the results of lumboscopic repair of ureteropelvi c junction syndromes. Material and Method: Retrospective study of 25 consecutive lumboscopic retr operitoneal pyeloplasties performed over 3 years in 14 women and 11 men wit h symptomatic ureteropelvic junction syndrome. Results: The mean operating time was 200 minutes (range: 120-360 minutes) a nd mean blood loss was 60 ml, Surgical conversion was necessary in three ca ses due to the difficulty of dissection and in one case because of rupture of the ureter Analgesic prescription was generally only necessary for the f irst 2 post operative days. The mean hospital stay was six days (range 2-16 days). Patients were able to return to work an average of 10 days after th e operation. With a mean follow-up of 9 months (range: 6 to 18 months), all patients were asymptomatic except for one patient who reported pain at a t rocar site. Follow-up urography at 3 months showed marked improvement in 18 patients (85.7%), moderate pyelocaliceal dilatation in 2 cases and one fai lure. Conclusion: Lumboscopic pyeloplasty is an alternative to endopyelotomy. It provides a comparable success rate to that of conventional surgery while re ducing the morbidity, length of hospital stay and convalescence. However, i t requires mastery of intracorporeal suture techniques.