Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) is an effective treatment for stones occurring in transplanted kidneys, investigators have concluded.
Murat M. Rifaioglu, MD, and collaborators at the University of California, San Francisco, retrospectively studied 15 patients who underwent successful PNL in a transplanted kidney.
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In all but three patients, access into an anterior, upper-pole calyx was achieved using ultrasound guidance alone or a combination of ultrasound guidance and fluoroscopy, the researchers reported in Urology (2008:72:508-512). Ten patients had a pre-existing nephrostomy tube, which was used in all but one patient.
Of the 15 patients, eight (53%) were treated with percutaneous flexible nephroscopy/ureteroscopy and seven had tracts dilated to 30F to perform rigid PNL. Following the procedure, all patients were stone-free; no complications developed and no patient required a blood transfusion, the authors stated.
