Tubeless percutaneous renal surgery is a safe procedure and offers numerous advantages over routine placement of a nephrostomy tube. The hospitalization, analgesia requirements, return to normal activities as well as cost are significantly less with this new technique.

Improvements in the technique of percutaneous renal surgery have decreased the morbidity associated with these procedures. In our study use of balloon tract dilators led to less renal hemorrhage and lower transfusion rates compared to Amplatz dilation. Additionally, balloon dilation appears to be more rapid and avoids renal movement away from the surgeon, which occasionally occurs during Amplatz dilation.

Tubeless percutaneous renal surgery is a safe procedure and offers numerous advantages over routine placement of a nephrostomy tube. The hospitalization, analgesia requirements, return to normal activities as well as cost are significantly less with this new technique.

a) Significant and similar inflammatory responses are present in both low and high count bacterial cystitis groups as compared with the normal group. b) IL-6 and TNF alpha are significantly elevated in patients with microhematuria compared to normals. c) The potential clinical utility of the assays lies in identifying the specific cytokines elevated, understanding the pathways that give rise to their production, and in defining potential virulence factors that may produce significant inflammation at low count bacterial infections.

Significant elevations of IL-1alpha and IL-1beta occur in patients with bacterial cystitis and microscopic hematuria. Correlation between pyuria and cytokine elevation was stronger for IL-1beta than for IL-1alpha. Changes in IL-1alpha may reflect changes in the bladder epithelium rather than in the inflammatory leukocytes. The ability of IL-1alpha and IL-1beta to serve as markers for bacterial cystitis in gravid females is diminished due to high basal levels during pregnancy.