No abstract

Summary 113 major surgical procedures were carried out on 87 patients with irreversible renal failure and being maintained on haemodialysis. The commonest postoperative complication was hyperkalaemia (43), followed by shunt clotting (23), respiratory complications (20), hypotension (14), hypertension (3), haemorrhage (8), infections (6), deep vein thrombosis (1) and wound dehiscence (1). The operative mortality was 3.5 %. The time of pre‐operative dialysis appears to have a relationship to the postoperative complications.

The patient records of 122 children with meningomyelocoeles were analysed in an attempt to find a common factor causing upper tract deterioration. The results clearly show that grade III reflux followed by obstructive hydroureter are the commonest factors associated with significant renal deterioration.

The radiological and sonographic findings of acute focal bacterial nephritis in 3 patients are presented. The sonographic appearance of a poorly marginated mass in the renal cortex, with echo amplitude less than the normal parenchyma and with poor transmission, should suggest the diagnosis of acute focal bacterial nephritis in a patient with pyrexia and a tender renal mass. These features of poor echogenicity and lack of posterior enhancement contrast with the presence of patchy echogenicity and posterior enhancement found in the renal abscess. This is of surgical importance, as the management may tend to be conservative in the one and surgical in the other.