Treatment of upper urinary tract calculus with minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy(mPCNL)in the treatment of upper urinary tract calculus. Methods The clinical data of 368 cases of upper urinary tract calculus from 2002 to 2006, which underwent mPCNL, were retrospectively analyzed. Among 368 cases analyzed, there were 116 cases with proximal ureteral cal-culus;190 cases of nonstaghorn kidney stones, 62 cases of staghorn stones. Results There were 344 cases(93.5%)treated with one-stage operation, 24 cases(6.5%) with two-stage. Single channel was used in 856 cases(96.70%), two-channel in 12 cases(3.3%). Complete stone clearance was a-chieved in 337 kidneys, giving an overall clearance rate of 91.6%. The average operative time was 73 min. The duration of hospital stay was 4-8 d with an average of 6 d in one-stage and complete clear-ance patients. Postoperative urinary tract infection was seen in 23 patients(6.2 %). Five(1.4 %) pa-tients required blood transfusion after operation. Two patients with severe bleeding were treated with blood transfusion and super-selective arterial embolization. Conclusion mPCNL has definite efficacy in the treatment of upper urinary tract calculus with little suffering and short recovery time. Key words: Urinary calculi; Nephrostomy, percutaneous