Non-surgical management in children with non-refluxing primary megaureter: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Children with non-refluxing primary megaureter are mostly managed by a watchful approach with close follow-up and serial imaging.

Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support the current non-surgical management strategy in these patients.

Data sources: A comprehensive search including electronic literature databases, clinical trial registries, and conference proceedings was performed.

Data synthesis methods: Outcomes were estimated as pooled prevalence. If meta-analytical calculations were not appropriate, outcomes were provided in a descriptive manner.

Results: Data from 8 studies (290 patients/354 renal units) were included. For the primary outcome, differential renal function estimated by functional imaging, meta-analysis was impossible due to reported data not being precise. Pooled prevalence for secondary surgery was 13% (95% confidence interval: 8-19%) and for resolution 61% (95% confidence interval: 42-78%). The risk of bias was moderate or high in most studies.

Limitations: This analysis was limited by the low number of eligible studies with few participants and high clinical heterogeneity, and the poor quality of the available data.

Conclusions: The low pooled prevalence of secondary surgical intervention and high pooled prevalence of resolution may support the current non-surgical management in children with non-refluxing primary megaureter. However, these results should be interpreted cautiously due to the limited available body of evidence. Future studies should overcome existing limitations of imaging methods by using standardized, comparable criteria and report outcome parameters in a quantitative manner. This would allow more sufficient data synthesis to provide evidence-based recommendations for clinical decision-making and counseling.

Systematic review registration: The protocol was registered on PROSPERO under CRD42019134502.