Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UroToday.com) Dr. Qingquan Xu and his colleagues sought to determine the safety of ureteroscopy lithotomy (URL) versus percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for upper ureteral calculi. Their team retrospectively analyzed 113 patients who had unilateral upper ureteral calculi. PCNL was performed in 53 patients and URL was performed in 60 patients. PCNL was more commonly performed in patients with ureteral stricture, urinary diversion, ureteropelvic junction obstruction, and stones greater than 5cm in diameter. Dr. Xu analyzed the stone burden, operative times, postoperative course, and perioperative hemoglobin changes.
His group discovered that both URL and PCNL are effective and safe in the treatment of upper ureteral calculi. PCNL may be more suited for patients with larger stones. It was also more successful in achieving a higher stone-free rate but did require a longer hospital stay.
Presented by: Qingquan Xu, MD, Urology and Lithotripsy Center, Peking University People’s Hospital, Beijing, China
Written by: Lillian Xie, BA, Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine, California, at the 37th World Congress of Endourology (WCE) – October 29th-November 2nd, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates