Comparing Totally Tubeless and Tubeless Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy with Standard Techniques.

Abstract

Traditionally, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) includes placing a nephrostomy tube and a Double J (DJ) stent to drain the kidney and operative tract following the procedure. However, more recent techniques, such as tubeless or totally tubeless PCNL, eliminate these drainage methods. The objective was to assess the feasibility, safety and effectiveness of performing tubeless or totally tubeless PCNL in comparison to standard PCNL a retrospective analysis was performed on 156 patients who underwent PCNL treatment From September 2022 to September 2023. Of these, 78 patients received traditional nephrostomy PCNL, while 46 patients underwent the tubeless procedure and the remaining 32 received the totally tubeless procedure. The three groups showed no significant differences in preoperative patient characteristics. The operation time, analgesic requirements and hospital stay were lower in the tubeless and totally tubeless PCNL group than in the standard PCNL group (p<0.05). No significant differences were found in the mean stone size, stone-free status or the occurrence of major complications. The overall complications (Grade-1, 2 and 3) rate was 14.2% in the standard PCNL group, 8.7% in the tubeless PCNL and 9.4% in the totally tubeless PCNL group. The tubeless and totally tubeless PCNL techniques have proven to be safe and effective, even for patients with incomplete staghorn stones and a moderate pelvic stone burden. These approaches are associated with reduced pain, lower analgesic needs, shorter operative times, and decreased hospital stays, making them more cost- effective and less likely to result in complications, while also improving patient satisfaction. Further research is essential to validate the safety of these techniques, encouraging urologists to adopt them in clinical practice.