Povidone-iodine sclerotherapy of primary symptomatic lymphocele after kidney transplantation.

OBJECTIVE To report the efficacy and safety of povidone-iodine sclerotherapy of primary symptomatic lymphocele after kidney transplantation in a large contemporary cohort study. PATIENTS AND METHODS A single-institutional study was conducted including consecutive patients who underwent povidone-iodine sclerotherapy for primary symptomatic lymphocele after kidney transplantation between January 2013 and March 2020. Sclerotherapy was used as the first-line treatment of symptomatic lymphocele. Recurrent lymphoceles were managed with open or laparoscopic fenestration. The primary outcome was the efficacy of sclerotherapy which was defined as the absence of second sclerotherapy or salvage surgery. RESULTS A total of 965 renal transplantations were included. Sclerotherapy for primary symptomatic lymphocele was performed in 60 cases (6.2%). The median (IQR) number of instillation, the volume of povidone-iodine per instillation and drainage time were 3 (3-3), 60 (38-80) mL and 6 days (5-8), respectively. Sclerotherapy related complications were reported in eight cases (13.3%) and included five cases of accidental catheter removal, two cases of lumbosciatica, and one case of intraperitoneal diffusion of povidone-iodine. After a median (IQR) follow-up of 33 (14-60) months, treatment success was achieved in 33 cases (55%). Multivariate analysis failed to identify predictors of sclerotherapy failure. Salvage therapies included 7 s sclerotherapy and 20 surgical fenestrations with an overall success rate of 88.8% (24/27). CONCLUSIONS Sclerotherapy was an easy and safe procedure to treat primary symptomatic lymphocele in renal transplant recipients. Despite moderate efficacy, recurrences were easily controlled with salvage therapies. Further studies are necessary to identify predictive factors of sclerotherapy failure to directly refer patients to surgical treatment.