Ultrasound-guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy for the treatment in patients with kidney stones

BACKGROUND: In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of ultrasound-guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy (UGPN) for the treatment in patients with kidney stones (KS). METHODS: We randomly assigned 86 patients with KS to a UGPN group or a control group, each group comprising 43 patients. Patients from the UGPN group underwent UGPN whereas those from control group underwent fluoroscopic-guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy (FGPN). The primary outcome included the stone-free rate. Secondary outcomes included complication rates, operative time, and length of hospitalization. RESULTS: UGPN did not show better efficacy than the FGPN procedure in decreasing stone-free rate (UGPN group 79.1% vs control group 69.8%, P = .45), operative time (UGPN group 108.4 ± 31.7 minute vs control group 113.2 ± 34.5 minute, P = .50), and length of hospitalization (UGPN group 2.7 ± 1.3 days vs control group 3.1 ± 1.5 days, P = .19). Additionally, no complications, except fever (UGPN group 4.7% vs control group 9.3%, P = .41) and hemoglobin slightly reduced (UGPN group 7.0% vs control group 11.6%, P = .46) were noted in patients from both groups in this study. CONCLUSIONS: To summarize, we demonstrated that both UGPN and FGPN techniques showed similar efficacy and complications when used for the management of KS.