Comparison of Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy with Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery Techniques in treatment of renal lower calyceal stones

Background and objectives: The aim of this study is a random prospective comparison in the outcomes of patients treated with percutaneous nephrolithotomy and retrograde intrarenal surgery in management of renal stones regarding stone free rate, quality of life, complications, fluoroscopy use, analgesic requirements and duration of hospital stay. Methods: This study was conducted in Hawler / Paky hospital Urology department between January 2019 and June 2019 in a prospective study. A total of 50 patients ages between 18-65 years with renal lower calyceal stone; single or multiple and size between 1-2 cm were randomized into two groups of 25 patients; patients treated with percutaneous nephrolithotomy (n; 25) and patients treated with retrograde intrarenal surgery techniques (n; 25). Results: : There was no statistical significant difference between the 2 groups in regard to patients’ pre-operative stone size, stone skin distance, complete blood count, creatinine values, analgesia requirement and stone-free rates. There were significantly higher values in regard to hospital stay, amount of radiation, percentage of hematocrit decrease due to bleeding and complication status in percutaneous nephrolithotomy compared to retrograde intrarenal surgery. Preoperative stone sizes for patients with percutaneous nephrolithotomy and retrograde intrarenal surgery was 15.7 ± 2.5 mm, 13.6 ± 2.2 mm, respectively, statistically there was no significant difference. Conclusions: We deduced that both percutaneous nephrolithotomy and retrograde intrarenal surgery minimal invasive surgical techniques can be applied to treat renal lower calyceal stones. Both techniques do not differ in stone-free rate, but in case of complications, fluoroscopy use, bleeding and hospital stay were higher in percutaneous nephrolithotomy.