Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: A Comparison of Tubeless versus the Standard technique

Abstract

Objective: The proposed study aimed to assess the utility of tubeless PCNL in terms of efficacy and safety when compared with the standard tubed PCNL.

Materials & Methods: In this study 280 patients (age ranged 08-70 years) who underwent PCNL were included.

Results: The patients were from both genders i.e., 156 males and 124 females. Out of 280 patients, 140 had a 16 FR nephrostomy tube (Group A) whiles an equal number had 4.8F DJ Stent (Group B) for postoperative drainage. A comparison of the postoperative outcome among the two groups was made for a period of two years (November 2017 to October 2019). Neither any significant difference was found in the mean stone size, operative time, nor was stone-free status, nor any major complication observed. The mean hospital stay for group A and group B was 4.5 days (range 3 to 6) and 3.2 days (range 2 to 4) respectively. An early postoperative wound soakage was found in 18 (12.8%) cases of group A in contrast to the group B patients in whom only 2 (1.4%) had soakage.

Conclusion: It was concluded that Tubeless PCNL as compared to the standard tubed PCNL was found more efficacious and safer and it should be adopted as a routine procedure.