Clinical course in patients with percutaneous nephrostomy for hydronephrosis associated with advanced cancer.

We investigated the clinical courses of 33 patients with advanced malignancies who has undergone percutaneous nephrostomy (PNS) to clarify the efficacy and validity of PNS and evaluated the results according to the type of catheter. The pigtail, Malecot and balloon catheters were used. All the catheters were exchanged every 4 weeks, if necessary for larger ones. The site of the primary disease, preoperative performance status, duration of time spent at home after PNS construction, number of times the catheter was changed, type and size of the catheter and complications associated with PNS were compiled. The median overall survival was 3.0 months. Twenty-three patients (69.7%) were never discharged from hospital. Thirty patients died of their primary diseases. The median overall survival of patients with cancers of the upper gastrointestinal system, large bowel, urological organs and gynecologic organs were 1.5, 5.5, 3.0 and 3.0 months, respectively (p=0.0116). Eighteen patients (54.5%) experienced complications such as pyelonephritis, obstruction, dislodgement and so on. PNS is an appropriate urinary diversion for patients with hydronephrosis with advanced cancer and unilateral construction is effective for treating end-stage obstructive renal failure. However, PNS rarely improves the patient's quality of life and the risk of complications is unavoidable regardless of the type of catheter used.