Percutaneous Drainage with Injection of Ethanol as the Sclerosing Agent for Treatment of Simple Kidney Cysts: A New Modification

Introduction: The simple kidney cyst is the most common type of benign kidney tumor in adults and it is usually asymptomatic. Symptomatic cysts are treated with percutaneous aspiration with or without sclerosing agent injection, laparoscopic decortication, or open surgery in rare cases. Considering the probable complications of anesthesia in open surgery and laparoscopic methods, we used an innovative method of percutaneous aspiration, insertion of a single J draining catheter for 24 hours, and injection of sclerosing agents, leaving the agent inside the cyst, while the catheter was removed immediately. Long-term results of this method were evaluated using sonography. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight patients with symptomatic kidney cysts underwent the process of insertion of the percutaneous catheter and aspiration of its contents in two steps and a one-time injection of 95% ethanol. After the first aspiration, patients stayed admitted for 24 hours. Then, the second aspiration was performed and the total fluid volume was measured. Patients were then followed for a mean follow-up period of 14 months. The procedure was considered effective with no signs of relapse (consistent with reduced size of cysts) in a sonographic evaluation of long-term results. Results: Among all the patients, 23 (82.14%) showed positive results in the sonographic evaluation after 14 months. Death occurred in one patient (3.6%), not attributable to the procedure, and recurrence was observed in five patients (17.9%). Conclusions: Our study showed that this method is safe, effective, and minimally invasive in treating simple kidney cysts and can be a proper substitute for the other current methods.