Ileal and colon conduits in renal transplantation

Twenty-five years ago the first case of renal transplantation into an ileal conduit was performed at this institution. Since then, 16 patients (9 females, 7 males) with an anverage age of 24.8 yr (range 9 to 47 yr) have undergone 19 transplants into intestinal conduits. The indication was neurogenic bladder in 7 cases, major urinary tract abnormalities in 7, and vesicoureteral reflux in 2. In primary transplants, 8 kidneys were from living related donors and 8 from cadaver donors; in retransplants, 1 kidney was from a living related and 2 from cadaver donors. In all but 3 cases the intestinal loop was constructed at least 2 weeks pretransplant. An ileal loop was used in 14 cases; a colon loop in 2. Conduit-specific complications were: calculi (n=2), small-bowel-to-ileal-loop fistula with hyperchloremic hyperkalemic acidosis (n=1), urinary fistula (n=1), and recurrent UTIs (n=12). Urosepsis caused 4 deaths. As of 9/89, 9 of these 16 patients are alive with functioning grafts (1 retransplant), 1 is alive without a functioning graft, and 6 died [urosepsis (4), ARDS (1), pneumonia (1)]. All of the 9 patients have had functioning grafts for more than 1 hr, 5 for more than 5 yr and 3 more than 10 yr. Of the 9 functioning grafts, 6 were from living related donors and 3 from cadaver donors. Patients were divided into two groups based on time of transplantation: Group I (11/64-4/77) and Group II (5/77-9/89). In Group I, 6 of 9 patients died; 1 is alive, but without a functioning graft, and only 2 still have functioning grafts. In Group II, no patient has died and 6 of 7 primary grafts still are functioning. Improvements in immunosuppression, surgical technique, infection treatment, and selection criteria are responsible for higher graft and patient survival in Group II.