Abstract

To retrospectively review our experience of managing patients with emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN). Case notes of patients with EPN were reviewed. The patients' demographic data, clinical presentation, investigation findings, treatment, and outcome were studied. Twelve patients were diagnosed with EPN. Majority (66.7%) of them had diabetes mellitus. All patients had been evaluated by computed tomography (CT). Using the classification proposed by Wan et al, five patients had type 1 EPN, whereas six, two, and four patients had Huang and Tseng CT class 2, 3a, and 3b EPN, respectively. Immediate nephrectomy was performed in six patients, whereas conservative treatment was adopted in the other six. In the nephrectomy group, one patient died of disseminated sepsis after a protracted course. Conservative treatment failed in three patients, who succumbed despite salvage nephrectomy in two of them. Analysis revealed that severe hyperglycemia and radiological CT class (both Wan and Huang systems) were significant predictors of mortality from EPN. Severe hyperglycemia and CT class of EPN are significant risk factors for death. CT is the investigation of choice for correct diagnosis of EPN. Additional intervention should be offered to EPN patients with Wan type 1 and Huang and Tseng class 3 CT features.

Abstract

The study presents a matched-pair analysis of robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RALPN) versus radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to compare the perioperative incidence of complications and chronic kidney disease (CKD). All 46 RFA and 206 RALPN cases from June 2005 to December 2011 were retrospectively reviewed from the medical records and were matched 1:1 based on propensity scores by sex, tumor size, tumor laterality of kidney, tumor location within the kidney, and clinical T stage. Hilar vessel clamping was performed in all RALPN patients. The estimated glomerular filtration rate was used to define the CKD of < 60 mL/minute/1.73 m2 by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation. All patients with baseline CKD or solitary kidney were excluded prior to the matching analysis. The complication was noted with modified Clavien grades ≥ 3. Statistical analysis was performed to compare the perioperative incidence of complications and CKD. A total of 27 matched pairs of RFA and RALPN patients were enrolled for analyzing CKD and perioperative complications. The better general conditions, higher estimated blood loss and transfusion rates, and longer operative time and hospital stay were observed significantly in RALPN patients (p < 0.05). Matched analysis demonstrated that the incidences of both perioperative complications (p = 0.434) and of CKD (p = 0.500) were not significantly different. No complication higher than Grade 4 was detected in either group. Despite the intraoperative renal ischemia and invasiveness of the procedure associated with RALPN, the incidence of perioperative complication and of CKD developing rates were statistically similar.