Abstract

TOTALLY ULTRASOUND-GUIDED FLUORO-FREE PERCUTANEOUS NEPHROLITHOTOMY

Vasudevan Thirugnanasambandam*, Kalyanaram Kone, Sanchit Gupta, Joseph Philipraj, Mossadeq A.

ABSTRACT

Aim: To present our experience of Totally Ultrasound-guided Fluoro-Free(TUFF) percutaneous nephrolithotomy eliminating the use of fluoroscopy. Patients and Methods: From Oct-2014 to March-2015, after careful selection, a total of 30 candidates(23 men and 7 women), with a mean age of 38.5 (range 24–55 yrs), were included in this study. We eliminated radiography completely for both access to the collecting system and tract dilation. Both were performed under ultrasound guidance. Only patients having pure renal pelvic and lower calyceal stones were included in the study. All the patients were operated in the standard prone position. Results: 25 patients had complete stone clearance. The stone-free rate was 84% in the patients. There were no major complications intraoperatively or postoperatively. The mean operative time was 79.9mins (range 45–130 mins). The mean hospitalization time was 4.2 (range 3–7 d). Conclusion: Totally ultrasound-guided Fluorofree PCNL has satisfactory outcomes compared with the standard technique of PCNL, without any major complications and with the advantage of preventing radiation hazards and damage to the adjacent organs.

Keywords: Totally Ultrasound-guided Fluoro-Free(TUFF), Percutaneous, Renal Pelvic, Calyceal Stones, Nephrolithotomy.