Percutaneous upper urinary stone surgery
Mkony, C.A.
East African Medical Journal 66(1): 21-26
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-835X PMID: 2917495 Document Number: 337422
Fifty-five patients underwent surgery for renal and upper ureteric stones in the department of urology at the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow, Scotland (UK) during a one-year period beginning in October 1986. There were 31 males and 24 females, with a mean age of 47.7 years. The targeted stones were successfully removed in 46 (83.6%) patients. 52.7% of the patients were discharged home within 4 days of operation. Minor perforations of the renal collecting system was the commonest complication, which occurred in 6 patients. Three patients had serious haemorrhage, one of them requiring nephrectomy for bleeding from a torn renal vein. One patient had cardiac arrest on post operative day 3, suffered brain damage, and died on day 10. Percutaneous lithotomy has become a well-established, effective method of treating upper urinary stones. Costly equipment is involved, however, and critical assessment is required in deciding to introduce this technique of stone treatment in a developing country. In those circumstances a gradual assimilation is suggested.