Hydronephrosis of transplanted kidney

[PeterChao]

So I posted in a separate thread that my transplant team noticed a upward trend of my creatinine post transplant. Today I was scheduled to do a biopsy to determine how the new kidney was functioning. During the ultrasound they discovered that I had hydronephrosis and they decided to insert a nephrostomy tube to relieve the pressure. I’m hoping this resolves some of the problems I’m having, but if anyone has any experiences with a nephrostomy tube I would love to know if there is anything I should watch out for.

Thank you,

Peter

[LGomez17]

I had the same exact experience with my 1 1/2 year post transplanted kidney. The tube helped relieve the pressure on the kidney and my creatinine went down. Based on that, doctors decided to surgically repair the ureter and reattach to bladder. Happy to say everything worked great and my kidney function is back to normal. Just keep the nephrostomy tube clean to avoid infection. It should all turn out fine. Keep the faith and best wishes!

[MKlug2015]

May the nephrostomy tube work well for you. I was diagnosed with hydronephrosis during my one year kidney biopsy during the ultrasound(the biopsy ended up being cancelled when hydronephrosis was discovered). I had no outward symptoms and my creatinine was .8. In my case, the hydronephrosis was caused from my bladder and I was given the medication Flomax to take daily, which works very well. We are both blessed that our Transplant teams are able to find solutions to challenges we have with our kidney transplants.

[PeterChao in reply to MKlug2015]

Thank you so much for your well wishes. The nephrostomy tube has been working well. My creatinine has been going down since it was inserted. I didn’t have any outward symptoms either, just my lab results. They think its fluid outside of the kidney that’s causing the blockage, we’ll find out tomorrow. Hope you are doing well!!

[Yankcg70]

Peter, i had this happen about a year ago. Fortunately for me, mine was cause from lack of emptying do to alot of caffeine intake from soda etc. I was lucky because i just had to change diet and another test a month later showed it to be fine. I wish you luck that u get better soon!!!

[PeterChao in reply to Yankcg70]

Glad to hear you quickly found a reason for the issue and it was easily resolved. I’m hoping my situation will also be resolved quickly, we’ll found out tomorrow. Hope all is well.

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

Just wondering how you are doing now? A couple of days ago you were going to find out if things were better. Hope all is better and your problem is resolving. Take care.

[PeterChao in reply to WYOAnne]

Hi Anne,

Thank you for following up, I’m actually at the hospital right now. Unfortunately the medical discovered a tear in the transplanted kidney ureter and my bladder. The ureter from the transplanted kidney was really short and a tear formed that caused urine leakage. The plan today was to insert a stent to help seal the leak, the when the team was about to start the process, they notice the bladder was no longer connected at all. Waiting for the surgeon to come by and let me know my options. But I’m thinking I will need to go under the knife to have them connected again ☹️.

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

Oh wow, you have really been through a lot! Hope they figure it all out and get you fixed up. I am sure too, that you will need surgery, but hopefully that will be the end of that issue. You are in my thoughts and prayers! Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing? We care.

[PeterChao in reply to WYOAnne]

Surgery tomorrow, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Will definitely let you know how it goes. Take care of yourself!!

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador in reply to PeterChao]

Wonder how you are doing? Did you have your surgery?

Let us know how you are doing?

We care!

[PeterChao in reply to WYOAnne]

Hi WYOAnne!

I’m doing well, the surgery was successful. I hoping to get discharged today from the hospital. The attachment of the ureter to the bladder is still precarious, so everyone is keeping an eye on it. Will need to take it easy for a couple of weeks.

Thank you so much for the follow-up!!

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador in reply to PeterChao]

Glad everything worked out with the surgery! Hope the problem does not reoccur. Take care and enjoy being home. Hospitals are a necessity, but not the place to get rest. ha, ha.

Hope it all goes well at home.

[RP2015]

Sorry to hear what you are going through but am hoping that after surgery you will be back on the mend. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Love

[PeterChao in reply to RP2015]

I appreciate your kind words and prayers. Be well!!

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

Good luck tomorrow with your surgery! At least they figured out what was going on and now can fix it. Take care and keep us updated. I'll be thinking of you......

[Calebzztop]

Hello, I hope you are doing well! I was looking for info on ureteral stricture and hydrophrenosis and I saw your post. I recently had my third kidney transplant and was told I had ureteral stricture with hydrophrenosis. My team attempted stent and ballooning but neither worked. I have had nephrostomy tube for 5 of the 6 months I have had this kidney and I've brought up surgery to my transplant Dr after reading of the different types of surgery that can be performed to correct this problem but it seems as though my center is not too familiar with the different types of surgery, although they've said they were just trying everything else first. In a month I'll be having a cystoscopy with the urologist in another attempt to fix the stricture. The urologist does not have much faith in it working and has informed me of this ,but said she was going to try for the team as they have asked... after this,if it doesn't work, I have asked my Dr what is next? He said either nephrostomy for life or possibly surgery...but did not tell me anything about the surgery and what it involves. I feel like I should go to another hospital for a second opinion because this is my third kidney transplant and its been nothing but complications....Im wondering how you are doing now and what particularly was done for surgery to fix the ureter and bladder? I hope and pray you are well and everything was successful 🙏 Thank you for taking the time to read this and God bless!