Objective: In this study, we aimed to compare the results in patients undergoing the oneshot dilatation (OD) technique and the conventional serial dilatation (SD) technique with amplatz dilators in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL) operations.
Methods:We retrospectively evaluated the data of 213 patients who had undergone PNL between January 2016 and June 2018. The patients who had undergone SD were classified as Group 1 and the patients undergoing OD as Group 2. All of the patients had undergone contrast-free computed tomography (CT) before the operation. The PNL procedure was performed by experienced endo-urologists. Follow-up CT was performed in the 3 rd postoperative month. The PNL procedure was considered unsuccessful in patients who had a stone larger than 4 mm on the CT scan. The patients were accepted as 'stone free' when there was no residual stone or there was a stone less than 4 mm in diameter on the CT scan. The groups were compared concerning demographic characteristics, operation duration, fluoroscopy duration, amount of hemoglobin change, complication rate (according to the modified Clavien classification), length of hospital stay and the operation success rate.
Results:There was no statistically significant difference between the groups concerning operation data, rate of stone-free patients and complication rates. The mean length of hospital stay was shorter in the OD group (p<0.001).
Conclusion:The conventional SD procedure is similar to the OD procedure with amplatz dilators concerning the total fluoroscopy time, complication rates and the surgical success rate.