Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study compared the stone opacity effect in patients who had radiopaque and radiolucent stones in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) results. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The medical records of 171 complete supine PCNL procedures were gathered. Patients were categorized into two groups: those with radiopaque (n=141) and those with radiolucent (n=30) stones. Kidney, ureter and bladder x-ray was done a day after PCNL and Ultrasound imaging was done two weeks later to evaluate the stone free rate. A stone free result was defined as having less than 4 mm residual stone size. Outcome parameters were compared by univariate analysis and those which were significantly different between the two groups were assessed by multivariate binary logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age, sex, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, pre-surgery hemoglobin, pre-surgery serum creatinine, stone and also surgery-related parameters between the two groups. Stone free rate, surgery time, complication-related parameters, hemoglobin drop, serum creatinine and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) changes were similar in both groups based on univariate analysis. The radiopaque group had higher post-surgery GFR (p=0.04) and longer hospital stay (p=0.009). However, opacity had no effect on these outcomes after multivariate analysis. Higher post-surgery GFR was seen in patient with higher GFR before surgery (p<0.0001). Also, higher hemoglobin before surgery was correlated with less hospital stay (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The complete supine percutaneous nephrolithotomy outcomes are similar in patients with radiopaque and radiolucent stones.