Planned percutaneous nephrolithotomy in patients who initially presented with urosepsis: Analysis of outcomes and complications

OBJECTIVE: To compare the outcomes and complications of planned percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in patients with a prior urosepsis episode to those without. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We recorded patients who presented initially with obstructive urosepsis, as identified by systemic inflammatory response syndrome and obstructing kidney stones. We compared the surgical outcomes and complications among those patients who had planned PCNL after control of prior urosepsis with urgent decompression and antibiotics (Group A) to a group who presented for PCNL with no previous history of a septic presentations (Group B). A 1:1 matched-pair analysis was performed using four parameters (age, gender, body mass index, and American Society of Anesthesiologists classification) to eliminate potential allocation bias. Primary outcomes included were stone-free rate (SFR) and complication rate. Secondary outcomes included were operative time, estimated blood loss, and duration of postoperative hospital stay. RESULTS: A total of 80 patients underwent PCNL (48 male and 32 females) divided equally between both treatment groups, with a mean (interquartile range) age of 47 (19–75) years. There were no differences in demographic data or stone characteristics between both groups. Both groups had comparable SFRs (92.5% vs 97.5%, P = 0.212) and mean operative time (77 vs 74 min, P = 0.728) (Table 2). Patients in Group A had a significantly higher overall complications rate (35% vs 10%, P = 0.03) . There were no postoperative mortalities and the mean length of hospital stay was significantly longer in Group A patients compared to group B (4.2 vs 1.5 days, P = 0.042). CONCLUSIONS: : Planned PCNL after decompression for urolithiasis-related sepsis has comparable operative time and SFR but higher complication rates and longer postoperative hospital stay. This is critical in counselling patients prior to definitive treatment of kidney stones after urgent decompression for urosepsis and for adequate preoperative planning and preparation. Abbreviations: ASA: American Society of Anesthesiologists; BMI: body mass index; ICU: intensive care unit; IQR: interquartile range; KUB: plain abdominal radiograph of the kidneys, ureters and bladder; PCN: percutaneous nephrostomy; PCNL: percutaneous nephrolithotomy; SFR: stone-free rate; URS; ureteroscopy; US: ultrasonography