Clinical outcomes of the simultaneous bilateral percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in patients with kidney stones: A prospective cohort study

Urinary tract stones is one of the most frequent medical emergencies which leads to life-threatening complications, namely obstructive uropathy as well as renal failure in some situations. Previously, bilateral stones were treated with either open surgery or percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). However, these treatment options were associated with lengthy operation time, need for more anesthesia, further bleeding, and long hospitalization. Therefore, much effort has been made to treat both sides simultaneously.

The aim of this study was an attempt to prospectively review cases undergoing simultaneous bilateral PCNL in terms of the therapy outcomes, complications, and consequences.

In this prospective cohort study, 39 adult patients with bilateral renal stones were randomly recruited at Imam Reza hospital in Mashhad, Iran between January 2016 and January 2017. Adult patients with bilateral renal stones were included in this study. Exclusion criteria were as follows: Patients with severe heart or lung disease, patients with coagulation disorders, pregnant women, and cases with any contraindications for general anesthesia. After insertion of bilateral ureteral catheters, all patients underwent simultaneous bilateral PCNL in prone position. Transureteral lithotripsy was performed for patients with ureteral stones. The surgery was initially carried out on the symptomatic side and then iterated on the remaining kidney. Major complications including bleeding, fever, pain, urine leakage, and residual stones were recorded. SPSS software was used for data analysis. Data were expressed as percentage and mean ± SD. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

A total of 39 patients (27 males with mean age of 37.6 years and 12 females with mean age of 45.7 years) were studied. As many as 15 (38%) patients received a unilateral nephrostomy. Three underwent totally tubeless surgery. Bleeding (41.0%) was the most common complication, followed by residual stones (20.5%) and fever (20.5%), urine leakage (15.3%), pain (12.8%), blood transfusion (2.5%) and colon perforation (2.5%).

It was concluded that simultaneous bilateral PCNL was not associated with higher morbidity than the unilateral method.