Minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotripsy: delicate and effective tool in the treatment of large kidney stones

Percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL) became a standard for the large and staghorn stones of the kidney, forcing out the open surgery. Today the standard PCNL is being compared in terms of efficacy to the technique using the instrument with smaller diameter. The desire to use the smallest possible access stems from the necessity to reduce the intra- and postoperative complications. In this article we outline the world data on the efficacy and safety of the mini-percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (MiniPERC) and on the main aspects and indications for this minimally invasive technique. Our experience with this technique consists of 36 patients with the age range of 3 to 54 years, when the MiniPerc was preferred to the standard PCNL. Postoperative rates of macrohematuria and hyperthermia were correspondingly 11.1% and 13.8%. Residual stones were present in 13.8%, which means that MiniPERC was quite effective treatment (86.2%). Drawing a conclusion, MiniPERC could be used as a good alternative to the standard PCNL, not taking in account the limited access to the kidney.