Total tubeless versus standard percutaneous nephrolithotomy: a meta-analysis

To compare the safety and efficacy of total tubeless percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) with standard PCNL for the treatment of upper urinary calculi. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and ScienceDirect were searched for collecting related literature on the two procedures. All compared studies, including randomized controlled trials (RCT), cohort studies (CS) and case-control studies (CCS), were included. Totally, 14 studies were included. Pooled data demonstrated that patients who underwent total tubeless PCNL were associated with significantly shorter operation time [weighted mean difference (WMD): -3.41, P = 0.004], shorter hospital stay (WMD: -1.54, P < 0.00001). It seemed that significantly less postoperative analgesic requirement could be found in the total tubeless PCNL group according to subgroup analysis. However, no significant differences could be found between the two groups in stone-free rate [risk ratio (RR): 1.03, P = 0.26], hemoglobin drop (WMD: -0.03, P = 0.85), and rates of postoperative fever (RR: 0.53, P = 0.11) and transfusion (RR: 0.79, P = 0.41). Sensitivity analysis after excluding CCS revealed results similar to previous findings. Total tubeless PCNL would be superior to standard PCNL in reducing operation time, hospital stay and postoperative analgesic requirement without significantly more adverse events.