Is there an ideal study for postoperative follow-up of patients undergoing laparoscopic pyeloplasty?

Stenosis of the pyeloureteral junction is a disorder that occurs from gestation, but can appear at any stage of life. Nowadays, one of the courses of treatment is laparoscopic pyeloplasty as it has less postoperative complications, with a reduction in the risk of future interventions. A systematic review of the literature was conducted in order to establish the best follow-up in order to study and evaluate postoperative outcomes, as well as to measure the frequency of pyeloureteral re-stenosis in adult patients undergoing laparoscopic pyeloplasty. The clinical question of interest was set. A systematic search of articles in 4 databases was conducted based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Duplicated bibliography was excluded and the articles were analysed and selected based on the number of patients in each study, country, year of publication, post-operative follow-up method, follow-up time, and procedure success rate. The diuretic renogram was the study of choice for postoperative follow-up. This was followed by the renogram with MAG 3, and renal ultrasound. The mean postoperative follow-up time was 25.88 months. The mean success rate was 92.92%, including imaging success, gamma success, or success in resolution of symptoms. The chosen studies for the follow-up of patients that undergo laparoscopic pyeloplasty are gamma-ray studies, due to their effectiveness in evaluating functional or obstructive kidney involvement. There is no agreement on the parameters that are ideal for follow-up studies, the definition of success rate, or expected ideal time.