Dog urinary incontinence after surgery for ureteral ectopia correction

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Retrospective study to determine postoperative continence when correcting intramural ureteral ectopia by transection of the ureter and neoureterostomy, leaving the distal ureter in situ. We hypothesised that the technique would achieve results comparable to previously described surgical techniques. METHODS: Medical records for dogs that underwent surgery for correction of unilateral intramural ureteral ectopia were reviewed. Cases (n = 9) of a neoureterostomy where the distal ureter was left in situ were included. Postoperatively, owners were contacted by telephone or email and asked to complete a questionnaire, scoring their dog's urinary continence on a scale from 0 to 2 where 0 was completely continent, 1 was occasional incontinence during excitement or while recumbent and 2 was no improvement in postoperative urinary continence, with the dog having constantly wet perivulvar fur and constant dribbling of urine. RESULTS: All dogs showed signs of severe urinary incontinence prior to surgery, including constantly wet perivulvar fur and constant dribbling of urine. Postoperatively, six dogs had a score of 0 and three dogs improved to a score of 1. Time to follow-up after surgery ranged from 1 to 62 months. CONCLUSION: The results of this study support our hypothesis. The technique was simple to perform and urinary continence achieved was comparable to that of other techniques. We suggest that this technique should be considered as an alternative for the correction of intramural ureteral ectopia.