Experimental supratrigonal cystectomy: II—evaluation of urinary calculi, infection, and bladder dysfunction in the pathogenesis of renal failure

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of urolithiasis, infection, and bladder dysfunction in the pathogenesis of renal failure in rats subjected to supratrigonal cystectomy. One group of Sprague–Dawley rats was submitted to supratrigonal cystectomy, a second to cystectomy during which a suspension of Proteus mirabilis was injected into the bladder stump, and a third to sham surgery (controls). The animals were sacrificed two months after surgery. Blood pressure and serum urea and creatinine were measured before surgery and at sacrifice when a careful inspection of the urinary tract was performed to determine the presence of hydronephrosis and calculi. Microbiological analyses were performed on urine aspirated from the bladder and on the kidneys. Significant differences were found between values of systolic blood pressure and serum urea and creatinine recorded prior to the surgical procedure and those recorded at sacrifice in each group except the control group. Renal failure was present in all animals subjected to cystectomy. Urinary calculi were documented in 5/10 animals subjected to cystectomy only and in all rats inoculated with P. mirabilis. Hypertension was documented in 43.75% of animals subjected to cystectomy. Pyelonephritis was diagnosed only in animals with urinary calculi, in each of which urine culture was also positive. No cases of renal failure, hypertension, calculi, and/or pyelonephritis were detected in the sham group. The findings of this study indicate that kidney failure in rats subjected to supratrigonal cystectomy is related to the severe bladder dysfunction induced by the surgical procedure.