Migration of nephrostomy tube into right atrium during percutaneous nephrolithotomy: A case report

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is one of the most commonly performed surgeries in urology. Due to blind nature of the procedure unexpected events are inevitable. Misplacement of percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) during PCNL into the venous system is one of the rarest complications causing great stress to both physician and the patient. Due to scarcity of data, no standard treatment has been proposed. Here, we present a case with misplaced PCN into venous system moving up to the right atrium and discuss its management with a review of the literature.

After stone removal of a 65-year old man by PCNL, PCN was passed through access sheath supposedly into renal pelvis but it actually misplaced into venous system and traversed into right atrium. The complication was diagnosed by immediate CT scan and managed by PCN pulling back without the need to perform open surgery.

Blind nature of PCNL makes it susceptible to inadvertent complications. Misplaced PCN into venous system is very rare, happening in about 13 patients worldwide. While some ended up open surgery, all of them were managed by pulling the PCN backwards. Our case is the first case in whom PCN traversed through IVC and reached right atrium during PCNL. Pulling back the PCN was a successful treatment in our case either.

While horrifying, misplaced PCN into venous system can be managed conservatively by pulling it backwards, even if it reaches the right atrium as happened in our case.