Kidneys
Normal urine flow passes from the kidneys through two tubes called ureters to be collected in the urinary bladder then discharged through the urethra outside of the body. A blockage can occur along the urinary tract due to renal calculi, benign prostatic hyperplasia, or structural abnormalities. Such blockage might cause the urine to be retained inside one or both kidneys resulting in kidney damage. A technique known as “percutaneous nephrostomy” is offered at Shefaa for immediate drainage of the accumulated urine directly from the kidneys in cases of uncontrollable pain, urinary tract infection, or kidney failure. During the procedure, a long flexible tube (catheter) is inserted through a skin incision to drain the urine. Ureteral stent is another technique available at Shefaa, during which a thin tube is put in the ureter to help drain urine from the kidney to the bladder.
In cases where the kidneys are unable to sufficiently filter wastes from the blood (renal failure), a machine with a special artificial filter is used to remove these wastes in a process called hemodialysis. A hemodialysis catheter is one way to get access to the blood for filtration. In this technique, our highly trained specialists at Shefaa insert a special catheter with two openings in a large vein to draw blood to the dialysis machine and through the other opening, the filtered blood returns to the body.

Liver
Bile is produced by the liver then flows through a series of ducts to eventually be stored in the gallbladder. It then is released in the first section of the small intestine (duodenum) to aid fat digestion. Blockage of bile flow does not allow proper drainage, which results in jaundice. To relieve this obstruction, our experienced physicians insert a thin tube (catheter) through a minor incision in the skin to discharge the bile externally in a process called “percutaneous biliary drainage” (PBD) . After drainage, a thin plastic or metal tubular support (stent) across the blocked duct might be inserted to allow normal flow of the bile without the need of external emptying. This procedure is known as “biliary stenting”.

Gastrointestinal
Several reasons might result in an inability to eat normally such as birth defects, neurological disorders, or throat blockage. In this case, a feeding tube is inserted through the skin into the stomach to allow medication and nutrition to be fed directly to the stomach. Experts at Shefaa undergo this procedure under x-ray guidance in a technique known as “Radiologically Inserted Percutaneous Gastrostomy (RIG)”, which allows higher success rate and safer alternative as compared to surgical techniques.