Safety and efficacy of the Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in Pediatrics; A 10-year single-center experience in Iran

Background: The aim of this study was to describe the one-decade experience in Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy surgery in children with kidney stones in Tehran, Iran. Methods: All patients (less than 18 years old) undergoing Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy at our referral medical center, were reviewed in this cross-sectional study. All the demographics, surgical data and post-operative information were obtained to identify the stone free rates and complications. Results: In a total, 119(56.4%) cases of 211 patients who underwent Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in our study were male and 92(43.6%) cases were female. The mean age of participants was 137.15±60.11 months (range: 9-204). The most common presenting symptom was pain (62.6%). The mean stone burden was 23.5 ± 9.68mm and the mean operative time was 109.95±37.1 min. Overall, stone clearance rate was 73.9% after single PNL. Among those patients who had renal malformation, the stone free rate was (13/19) 68.4% for PCNL. The postoperative complication rate was 5/47 (10.6%) during all procedures and there were no major operative or postoperative complications. Conclusions: According to the findings, pediatric PCNL with the acceptable stone free rates could be considered as a safe and effective procedure among children with complex stones and renal malformation.