1. Iatrogenic Ureteral Injury as a Complication of Posterior or Lateral Lumbar Spine Surgery: A Systematic Review of the Literature
- Author
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Mehmet Turgut, Ahmet Tuncay Turgut, and Vikram S. Dogra
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Iatrogenic Disease ,Neurosurgical Procedures ,Degenerative disc disease ,03 medical and health sciences ,Postoperative Complications ,Spinal Stenosis ,0302 clinical medicine ,Ureteral injury ,medicine ,Lumbar spine surgery ,Humans ,Failed Back Surgery Syndrome ,Lumbar Vertebrae ,business.industry ,Laminectomy ,Lumbar spinal stenosis ,medicine.disease ,Spondylolisthesis ,Surgery ,Spinal Fusion ,Acute abdomen ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Neurology (clinical) ,Ureter ,Differential diagnosis ,medicine.symptom ,Complication ,business ,Intervertebral Disc Displacement ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Diskectomy - Abstract
Iatrogenic ureteral injury associated with lumbar spine surgery is an uncommon but devastating complication with associated medicolegal implications.We performed a systematic review of the English language literature published between 1954 and 2019, accessed through 4 popular databases. We found 44 articles (28 case reports, 9 case-based reviews, 4 case series, 1 original article, 1 case illustration, and 1 pictorial) containing 46 cases of ureteral injuries after posterior or lateral lumbar spine surgery.Except for 5 cases with insufficient data, 24 of the remaining 41 patients were female and 17 were male, with ages ranging from 16 years to 83 years. Excluding 4 cases without enough information, initial diagnoses of lumbar disc herniation (n = 33) or lumbar spinal stenosis (n = 4), spondylolisthesis (n = 3), degenerative disc disease (n = 1), and failed back surgery syndrome (n = 1) were reported from 18 countries; 54% of patients were from the United States, Japan, or Turkey. The interval from spinal surgery to restorative surgery ranged from24 hours to 1 month to 1 year; in 48% of patients, it was1 week, and 90% of patients recovered completely. Initial surgery was combined with vascular injury in 15% of patients.Ureteral injury associated with lumbar spine surgery is overreported in developed or developing countries. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any patient who presents with symptoms of acute abdomen after lumbar spine surgery, and patients who underwent restorative surgery had a good prognosis.
- Published
- 2020