Percutaneous nephrolithotomy in patients with scoliosis: our institutional experience

It is challenging to treat renal stones in patients with scoliosis. The present study was designed to study the safety and efficacy of minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mPCNL, 18 Fr) and standard tract PCNL (24 Fr) in patients with scoliosis. Twenty cases treated with mPCNL and 18 cases with standard tract PCNL were included in the present study. Laboratory data included preoperative routine complete blood count, serum creatinine, urine bacterial culture, etc. KUB, intravenous urography or CT scanning was done. Fifteen had lumbar and 23 had thoracolumbar scoliosis. Pulmonary function test was performed in all cases. Demographic and clinical details, operative characteristics and complications were studied and compared between two groups retrospectively. The stone burdens of two groups were averagely 754.4 and 816.2 mm(2), respectively (P = 0.194). Pulmonary function test indicated that 18 (47 %) out of 38 patients had decreased function for surgery and anesthesia. The stone clearance rates were 55 and 67 %, respectively, after the first session (P = 0.522). The requirements of auxiliary treatments including second-look PCNL procedure or SWL (shock wave lithotripsy) were not significantly different for both groups. All patients from both groups achieved final stone clearance after auxiliary treatments. Complications of urinary collecting system injury or fever were observed in one and two cases in each group, respectively, (P = 0.548). There were no injuries to neighboring organs or pneumothorax. The requirement of blood transfusion for four cases in mPCNL group and three cases in the standard tract PCNL group, respectively, indicated no significant difference between two groups (P = 0.999). We are able to successfully and safely perform both mPCNL and standard tract PCNL in patients with scoliosis in our hospital. Compared with mPCNL, standard tract PCNL is even more efficient due to its shorter operative time.