Which urinary drainage method is better tolerated in patients with hydronephrosis secondary to ureteral obstruction following onco-gynecology surgeries? A comparison of health-related quality of life

Objective: We aimed to compare the impacts of retrograde ureteral stent (RUS) and percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) which were placed for hydronephrosis secondary to onco-gynecology surgeries on health-related quality of life. Materials and methods:The datas of 42 patients who required placement of RUS or PCN for hydronephrosis secondary to onco-gynecology surgeries and followed up between January 2013 and December 2017 were retrospectively evaluated.Patients were divided into two groups: RUS (n:19) and PCN (n:23).We compared the health-related quality of life and catheter related undesirable symptoms between two groups.Results: In the evaluation of patients' physical and psychosocial well-being, problems related to mobility (p=0.002),self care (p=0.01),daily physical activity (p=0.01) and severity of anxiety/depression (p<0.001) were found higher in PCN group.On the other hand, pain (p=0.001) and daily need of analgesia (p=0.016) were higher in patients with RUS.Dysuria (p=0.038),urgency (p=0.038) and frequency (p=0.006) were catheter related undesired symptoms and they were significantly higher in RUS group.We used VAS score as an indicator of general well-being.VAS scores were 5.42 ± 1.53 and 4.70 ± 1.29 in RUS and PCN groups, respectively (p = 0.105).Conclusion: RUS and PCN have equally success for urgent decompression of upper urinary tract.In the patients with hydronephrosis secondary to ureteral obstruction following onco-gynecology surgeries, we observed that none of two urinary drainage methods was better tolerated in terms of general well-being.However, physical and psychosocial well-being was worse in PCN group.