The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness and safety of endoscopic management compared to ureterovesical reimplantation in pediatric patients with high-grade vesicoureteral reflux in terms of urinary tract infection. We performed a network meta-analysis. We searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, and CENTRAL. We included clinical experiments, quasi-experiments, and cohorts studies. The population was men and women between 1 month and 15 years old. Patients had primary high-grade VUR diagnosed by voiding cystourethrography. The interventions were subureteric bulking agent endoscopic injection (polytetrafluoroethylene, hyaluronic acid, collagen, Dx/Ha, and PPC) vs vesicoureteral reimplantation (Cohen, Politano-Leadbetter, Glenn-Anderson, and Lich-Gregoir), and the primary outcome was urinary infections. Nine studies accomplished the inclusion criteria (seven observational and two clinical experiments). A total of 1448 renal units underwent surgical treatments for the correction of high-grade VUR. Regarding the primary outcome, we compared Dx/Ha with Cohen, Lich-Gregoir, and PPC, finding an RD of -0.02 (95%CI -0.09 to 0.06), RD of -0.02 (95%CI -0.10 to 0.07), and an RD of -0.03 (- 0.13 to 0.07), respectively.Conclusion: Our study showed that there were no differences in UTI episodes after VUR correction in patients undergoing endoscopic management compared with vesicoureteral reimplantation. What is Known: • Primary vesicoureteral reflux is one of the most common congenital anomalies of the urinary tract. • The clinical practice guidelines recommend the surgical management of patients with high-grade VUR. What is New: • There were no differences in UTI episodes after VUR correction in patients undergoing endoscopic management compared with vesicoureteral reimplantation.
Keywords: Network meta-analysis; Systematic review; Urinary tract infection; Vesicoureteral reflux.