Ureteral Injury Following Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion After Five Years: A Rare Case

Ureteral injuries are considered as rare complications of posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF). There are few reports in the literature on ureteral injuries following PLIF. The present report presented a case of right ureteral injury by passing five years from PLIF.

The patient was a 51-year-old woman who has been referred to urologist with the complaints of flank pain, fever, anorexia, vomiting, and nausea, and a history of PLIF five years ago. After radiological examinations, ureteral obstruction was diagnosed and then open surgery was performed. Severe adhesions and fibrosis were observed in the retroperitoneal next to the lumbar vertebra implant. Thereafter, the ureteral stenosis was removed, the ureter was anastomosed end-to-end, and Double J was placed. The anastomosis site was covered with a flap of perinephric adipose tissue in order to prevent re-fibrosis.

This report aimed to inform surgeons of a rare complication, a ureteral injury that has happened five years after PLIF, along with its non-specific signs.