Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy under Spinal Anesthesia is Safe and Effective

Urinary stone disease is a common health problem and has an incidence of 4-20% worldwide [1]. Percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL), an efficient and reliable modality in the surgical management of stone disease, has been first described by Fernström and Johansson in 1976 [2]. The popularity of this minimally invasive technique has risen gradually during the last 30 years due to its advantages such as short hospitalization time, low morbidity rates, high success rates and low costs [3]. PCNL is offered as the first choice of treatment not only for stones bigger than 2 cm, but also stones resistant or not appropriate for extra corporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) [4]. Although this operation is generally performed under general anesthesia (GA), spinal anesthesia (SA) can also be used for appropriate patients on the discretion of the surgeon, anesthetist, and the patient. There are some studies that report PCNL performed under SA is as successful and safe as the ones performed with GA [5-10]. Herein, we report our experience for 172 PCNL cases under SA performed by a single surgeon. Materials and Methods