Experience of percutaneous nephrolithotomy with the creation of nephrostomy tract by plasma vaporization

To share our 7-year experiences of a safe and effective method for tract creation in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL).

A total of 143 patients had received this kind of method for renal stone disease at our institute from May 2010 to December 2016. Finally, 130 patients with complete data were included. All patients underwent a bipolar resectoscope mounted with a plasma vaporization (PV) button electrode for tract creation. Data analysis included procedure time, length of hospital stays, blood transfusion rate, any early and late complications, renal function, and stone-free rate.

The mean age of patients was 56.5 years (range 26-84 years). Noticeably, no blood transfusion was necessary in this series. Mean length of post-operative stay duration was 2.6 ± 1.1 days. The average operating time was 46 min. Stone-free rate was 93.3% in the non-staghorn calculi group. There was no significant difference in change in renal function after the operation (P = 0.884). All posto-perative complications were Clavien grade 1 including fever (16.9%) and urine leak (1.5%) etc. There was no major complication.

Based on zero blood transfusion rate, no major complication, and shorter post-operative stay duration (2.6 days), the PV technique is safe and effective for less blood loss in comparison with other techniques for creating the nephrostomy tract for PCNL.