Optical puncture combined with balloon dilation PCNL vs. conventional puncture dilation PCNL for kidney stones without hydronephrosis: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Accurate puncture and dilation of the target kidney calices for percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) can be difficult. This study aimed to investigate the advantages of PCNL using optical puncture (i.e. the puncture is visualized on a screen as seen through the needle) combined with balloon dilation vs. conventional puncture methods. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 58 consecutive patients with kidney stones without hydronephrosis and treated at the Minimally Invasive Urology Center of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital between 10/2016 and 12/2017. Twenty-one patients underwent optical puncture combined with balloon dilation PCNL. Thirty-seven patients underwent conventional puncture instrument dilation PCNL (controls). Success rate, tubeless rate, blood loss, pain, and complications were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The one-time puncture success rate (95.2% [20/21] vs. 67.6% [25/37], P = 0.02) and the postoperative tubeless rate (81.0% [17/21] vs. 54.1% [20/37], P = 0.04) were higher in the optical puncture group compared with controls. The average postoperative hemoglobin reduction was smaller (1.13 ± 0.63 vs. 1.56 ± 0.59 g/dL, P = 0.01), the postoperative VAS score was lower (1.6 ± 0.9 vs. 2.5 ± 1.2, P = 0.004), the rate of postoperative analgesic use was lower (14.3% [3/21] vs. 40.5% [15/37], P = 0.04), and the postoperative mean hospitalization days was shorter (3.7 ± 0.9 vs. 4.4 ± 0.8, P = 0.005) in the optical puncture group vs. controls. There was no case of urinary sepsis, blood transfusion, perirenal hematoma, pleural injury, and visceral organ damage. CONCLUSIONS: Optical puncture combined with balloon dilation PCNL could be associated with good therapeutic effect and low frequency of complications for the treatment of kidney stones without hydronephrosis.