Open Pyelolithotomy in a Pelvic Ectopic Kidney: Case Report and Current Literature Review

BACKGROUND: Advances in urology have significantly reduced the indications for open surgery to treat staghorn kidney stones. Nevertheless, according to our experience, open surgery is still the preferred treatment for rare cases of the ectopic pelvic kidney. CASE PRESENTATION: A 49-year-old man complained about pain in the lower umbilical region for five months. The pain drastically changed into a sharp pain two months before. The vital sign is normal; on physical examination, the palpation of the suprapubic area elicits pain when pressed, no mass is detected. The abdominal computed tomography without contrast showed a right ectopic kidney located anteriorly of the fifth lumbar to the second sacrum. There was also mild hydronephrosis (grade I) and staghorn stones measuring 4 cm x 2.3 cm. The stone was surgically treated with open pyelolithotomy through a midline infra umbilical incision. The patient was discharged five days postoperatively without distinct complications. CONCLUSION: Open surgery can represent a valid alternative in the treatment of kidney stones of very selected cases, including anomalous kidneys, in a setting where resources are limited.

Providing Several Skills to Treat Complex Infectious Stones of Solitary Kidney in a Patient Failed to Undergo Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: A Case Report

Conservative treatment is closely associated with renal deterioration for patients with renal staghorn stones. It is well-recognized that percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is recommended as the first-line treatment of renal stones larger than 2 cm due to its higher stone clearance and cost-effectiveness when compared with other treatment alternatives, such as shockwave lithotripsy and flexible ureteroscopy (FURS). Besides, our findings indicated that miniaturized PCNL could be served as an alternative to PCNL with a higher stone-free rate and a lower hemorrhage risk. Despite the higher cost-effectiveness of PCNL, the management of staghorn stones are still controversial in some special situations, such as a solitary kidney. Herein, we present a case with complex infectious stones of a right-sided solitary kidney, complaining of persistent pain in the right waist. The rarity of this case is that it is difficult to encounter these cotton-like staghorn stones which are clinically resistant to holmium laser lithotripsy, and the particularity is that the patient with solitary kidney failed to undergo PCNL. We found that the combination of intermittently high-frequency oscillation and flexible ureteroscopy forceps might contribute to treat the complex infectious stones in a patient with solitary kidney. Our surgical experience might be beneficial to such patients undergoing flexible ureteroscopy in clinical practice.

An Investigation on the Patients Undergoing Kidney Stone Open Surgery: A Single-Center Report From Sistan and Baluchistan Province, Iran

Introduction: Urinary stones are among major urological diseases. Open kidney surgery has always been of historical importance in the management of most urinary stones, especially in complicated cases. The aim of this study was to investigate the cases of open kidney stone surgery in Amir Al-Momenin hospital of Zabol in 2016-2017. Method: In the present descriptive cross-sectional study, the patients who underwent open kidney stone surgery in Amir Al-Momenin hospital were evaluated. The investigated variables included gender, age, changes in blood pressure, postoperative complications, and duration of surgery. The information was collected from hospital records and entered into SPSS software for analysis.Results: In this study, 25 patients were studied, of whom 14 (56%) were females. The mean age of the patients was 37.84 ±17.15 years. The youngest and oldest patients were 1 and 66 years old, respectively. Twelve patients (48%) had staghorn stones, and the rest (13 patients) had other types of stones. Blood pressure remained unchanged in 80% of the patients while 12% developed hypertension. Postoperative fever and infection were observed in only 4% of the patients. The prevalence of staghorn stones in men and women were 45.5% and 50%, respectively. The difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.821).Conclusion: The present study showed that the most common stones leading to open kidney surgery were of the staghorn type. Males were more likely to undergo open kidney surgery than females.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery for treatment of urinary tract stones in children: report of a multicenter international experience

This study aimed to report a multi-institutional experience with robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RALS) for treatment of urinary tract stones in children. The medical records of 15 patients (12 boys), who underwent RALS for urolithiasis in 4 international centers of pediatric urology over a 5-year period, were retrospectively collected. The median patient age was 8.5 years (range 4–15). Eleven/fifteen patients (73.3%) had concurrent uretero–pelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) and 2/15 patients (13.3%) had neurogenic bladder. Stones were in the renal pelvis in 8/15 (53.3%), in the lower pole in 3/15 (20%), in the bladder in 2/15 (13.3%), and in multiple locations in 2/15 (13.3%). One patient (6.6%) had bilateral multiple kidney stones. The median stone size was 10.8 mm (range 2–30) in upper tract location and 27 mm (range 21–33) into the bladder. Eleven patients with concomitant UPJO underwent simultaneous robot-assisted pyelolithotomy and pyeloplasty in 12 kidney units. Two patients with isolated staghorn stones received robot-assisted pyelolithotomy. Robot-assisted cystolithotomy was performed in two patients with bladder stones. The median operative time was 131.8 min (range 60–240). The stone-free rate was 80% following initial surgery and 100% after secondary treatment. Clavien 2 complications (hematuria, infections) were recorded in 5/15 patients (33.3%). Three/fifteen patients (20%) with residual renal stones were successfully treated using ureterorenoscopy (Clavien 3b). RALS was a feasible, safe and effective treatment option for pediatric urolithiasis in selected cases such as large bladder stones, bilateral kidney stones, staghorn stones or concomitant anomalies such as UPJO requiring simultaneous pyeloplasty.

The Pattern of Day Case (Ambulatory) Percutaneous (PCNL): A Descriptive Retrospective Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital

Background: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) has experienced remarkable development and alteration since it was first described in 1976 by Fernstorm et al. It has also experienced miniaturization of equipment, improvement in operative systems, and refining renal access methods leading to the achievement of maximum clearance of stone while causing minimal morbidity. For example, in endourological practice, when the patient is subjected to PCNL, he traditionally needs programmed inpatient admission, as part of their recovery, it is applicable as an outpatient method in properly selected cases. Objectives: We aimed at evaluating the safety and applicability of the outpatient PCNL procedure. Methods: This retrospective study was done on 210 cases of tubeless PCNL performed by a single urologist at our institute from January 2016 to January 2019. Patients’ mean age (134 males and 76 females) was 57 ± 11.8 years, and 7 patients aged 8 - 12 years. There were 71 pelvic or calyceal solitary stones, 62 non-complete staghorn stones, 17 ureteral stones, 32 renal + ureteric stones (simultaneous renal and ureteral stones) , and 28 complete staghorn stones. The average stone size was 3.5 ± 2.8 (range: 0.7 to 11.8 cm). Results: The mean operation duration was 85.0 ± 29.4 min, and the mean hospital stay was 21.7 ± 3.4 h. Out of 210 patients, 6 patients had longer stay due to high-grade fever and 3 patients due to severe pain, and also 7 patients refused discharge due to personal and social reasons. Our ambulatory PCNL rate was 97 % ( 194 out of 210). Within 72 h, 5 patients were readmitted due to high-grade fever, 3 patients due to haematuria, and 4 patients due to pain and dysuria, and all patients were discharged 2 - 4 days after conservative treatment. Thus, the readmission rate was 6.18% (12 cases were readmitted out of 194 cases). Patients showed a blood transfusion rate of 1.4 %. Also, 19 cases (9.02%) were found with post-operative fever, and no urosepsis was reported. No pulmonary complications and mortality were noted. No re-exploration was done, and no major leak was noted. The angio-embolization rate was 0.59%. We did not use HEMO-SEAL technology, cautery, or suture in the tracks. Conclusions: In conclusion, the outpatient PCNL procedure is an applicable and feasible procedure under selected criteria; however, more investigations using a larger sample size are needed.