[Percutaneous nephrolithotomy after extracorporeal lithotripsy for the treatment of complex renal lithiasis....

The new therapeutic approach combining percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) has become widely used instead of conventional surgery. The use of this combined treatment modality has been extended to complex renal calculi. In our view, the need to achieve complete removal of struvite stone fragments to cure infection and prevent subsequent stone formation has led to a change in our therapeutic approach. The present study describes several maneuvers to facilitate PNL and compares two treatment modalities: PNL to reduce stone volume + ESWL (an approach utilized by many) and ESWL + PNL for remaining stone fragments (our therapeutic approach). Our approach (ESWL followed by PNL) has enhanced our results in the treatment of complex renal calculi: 68.4% of the renal units were completely stone-free at the time of discharge from the hospital. Good results were achieved in 89.5%, if we include the renal units with stone fragments that could be spontaneously passed.