Purpose

To compare efficacy, safety and outcome of total tubeless PCNL with tubeless  PCNL.

Materials & Methods

The study included 52 patients undergoing PCNL randomized into tubeless PCNL(T) group  and total tubeless PCNL(TT) group  each containing 26 patients. Patients with congenital renal anomalies, solitary functioning kidney, previous renal surgery, clinically significant residual fragments, perforation of  pelvi–calyceal system  and  requiring  conversion  were excluded. Data analyzed using SPSS 20, chi–square test and Student’s t test were used where appropriate. A p–value of <0.05 was considered significant.

Results

 Mean age, mean stone size, preoperative hemoglobin  and creatinine level in group T and TT were comparable. Similar waspostoperative hemoglobin and creatinine level. The mean operating time,VAS  and analgesic required in groupTT was significantly shorter than group T. Complications rate and hospital stay was comparable between  the groups.

Conclusion

Tubeless and total tubeless PCNL are safe options in selected cases. However, total tubeless PCNL is associated with significantly less postoperative pain, analgesic requirement and avoids revisit for stent removal minimizing stent related complications and  treatment cost.