Treatment outcome of percutaneous nephrolithotomy: The initial experience from a tertiary care Center

Introduction: The purpose of the study was to assess the operative characteristics and treatment outcome of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for the treatment of renal calculi at our hospital. Materials and Methods: Patients with significant size symptomatic renal calculi not manageable by conservative management and those with calculi resistant to extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) were included in the study. Patients excluded from the study were those with significant coagulopathy, active upper urinary tract infection, and renal calculi in ectopic kidneys. Results: Our study group had a mean age of 42.46 ± 11.29 years. Nearly 60% of stones in our study were of size 21-30 mm in the longest diameter with mean stone diameter of 24.56 ± 7.809 mm. Mean hemoglobin drop following the procedure was 1.35 ± 0.843 g/dl. Mean operative time was 93.56 ± 9.90 min. We had an overall success rate of 83.5% in our study. Fourteen failure cases were managed by ESWL (ten cases), second look PCNL (three cases), and by open surgery (one case). Conclusion: Although we find a higher frequency of minor complications such as transient mild hematuria (37.6%), mild puncture site pain (55.3%), or low-grade fever (24.7%), no major or long-term side effects were observed in our series.