Bilateral double-pigtail ureteral stent placement for management of ureteral obstruction secondary to transitional cell carcinoma in a dog

ABSTRACT

Background: Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) usually affects the trigone region of the bladder and proximal portionof the urethra. TCC in dogs is often complicated by local tumor invasion and obstruction of the urethra, ureters, or both.Urinary obstruction is the cause of death in approximately 60% of dogs with TCC. Radical surgeries are associated withmorbidity and mortality rates. Stents have recently been evaluated for use in dogs with ureteral obstruction resulting froma variety of urinary tract tumors. This report aims to describe bilateral ureteral stent placement for treatment of malignantureteral obstruction and long-term follow-up in a dog.Case An 11-year-old female spayed Maltese dog with ureteral obstruction secondary to transitional cell carcinoma (TCC)in the bladder trigone. After palliative debulking procedure and diagnostic of TCC in bladder and NSAIDs treatment,recurrence has occurred causing ureteral obstruction and TCC had invaded the abdominal wall. Abdominal wall localtumor resection, trigone mass debulking and bilateral ureteral stent placement was made. A double-pigtail ureteral stentof appropriate length was advanced to bypass the ureteral obstruction. Stent sizes were 3.5 Fr in diameter and from 8 to32 cm in length. The patient underwent surgical resection of the transitional cell carcinoma in the abdominal wall. Thecorrect location of the bilateral ureteral pigtail stent was certified by abdominal radiography. Recovery was uneventfuland the dog was discharged 2 days after surgery. Eleven months after stent placement, the dog developed lumbar vertebrae metastasis, without evidence of recurrent ureteral obstruction. The owners elected euthanasia 517 days after originalpresentation and 337 days after ureteral stent placement. Euthanasia was unrelated to the local tumor obstruction but was...