Antibiotic prophylaxis for percutaneous nephrolithotomy: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis

A single dose of preventive antibiotics is known to be sufficient to reduce the rate of infection-related complications in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). However, some studies reported that the extended dose showed lower complications for high-risk groups. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing single- and extended-dose antibiotic prophylaxis for PCNL.

Relevant studies that compared single- and extended-dose antibiotic prophylactic therapies were identified. Articles were selected from PubMed, EMBASE, KoreaMed, and Google Scholar up to September 2021. Fever and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) were compared by meta-analysis. A subgroup analysis was performed according to the degree of risk to the patient.

A total of 10 articles were included in this study. There were no significant differences between single dose and extended dose in the rate of fever [p = 0.93, OR = 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.44-2.13, I2 = 64%]. Extended dose showed lower rate of SIRS compared to single dose (p = 0.0005, OR = 1.81, 95% CI 1.30-2.53, I2 = 53%); in the subgroup analysis, extended dose also showed lower rates of SIRS compared to single dose in high-risk patients (p <0.0001, OR = 3.53, 95% CI 1.91-6.54, I2 = 36%).

The results of our meta-analysis showed that single-dose antibiotic prophylaxis can be effective for PCNL, but extended-dose antibiotics can be required in high-risk patients to reduce post-PCNL infection-related complications.