Deflux Injection – Why it may be a good option
Not all children are good candidates for Deflux, but for those that are, Deflux can be a good alternative to ureteral reimplantation for the treatment of VUR. Deflux is a bulking agent that is injected around the ureter opening to prevent urine from backing up into the kidneys. The success rate after the first injection is about 85%. That number increases with multiple injections.
Studies have shown that having a Deflux injection lowers incidence of UTI and has an 85-90% resolution rate of VUR. If it is used as a first line treatment, Deflux is more effective than prophylactic antibiotics in reducing recurrent UTI. According to one study, patients on prophylaxis were 79% more likely to develop a breakthrough infection than those who had Deflux. That’s a pretty good argument for using Deflux as a first line of treatment in lower grades of VUR.
Another benefit to Deflux is recovery time. The injection itself takes only about 10-20 minutes, and is usually done as an outpatient surgery. The child can usually go back to normal activities the next day. That’s a pretty big difference from the surgery. Reimplantation surgery is usually 2-3 hours and recovery takes a while because of the incision, catheter and bladder spasms. Another positive is that by doing Deflux first, you are not ruling out any treatments later. Some open surgeries can prevent later treatment options.
While Deflux is a great option, for some children reimplantation surgery is a much better option. This was the case for us. Lizzie had grade 5 VUR, with multiple recurrent infections, and that meant open surgery. When we later discovered that her reimplant failed, Deflux became an option for us, and she had a Deflux injection at the age of 11 months, along with a vesicostomy. Because we did the vesicostomy surgery at the same time, I can’t say what having outpatient Deflux is like. I can say that even with the other surgery, Lizzie recovered very quickly.
We won’t know for sure if Lizzie’s Deflux was successful until we can do another VCUG. It may be another year or so until we know, because of the difficulty of doing a VCUG with an ostomy. We are hopeful that the Deflux has at least helped the VUR, but we realize that another injection or two may be necessary because the grade of her reflux is so high.
If you think your child might be a good candidate for Deflux, you should talk to your doctor. You may also want to look at the links on this page for more information on Deflux.
Lizzie's Journey 