Objective: To evaluate the effect of age on the success and complications of percutaneous nephrolithotomy(PCNL) in staghorn renal stones. Material and Methods: The files of 182 patients who underwent single-access PCNL for staghorn renal stones between 2012 and 2017 were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were divided into two groups according to their age: those aged <65 years were defined as Group-1 and those aged ≥65 years as Group-2.The demographic characteristics and perioperative and postoperative results of the patients were compared between the two groups.Postoperative detection of stones>4 mm was defined as residual stones.Complications were classified according to the Clavien scoring system. Results: Of the patients with staghorn renal stones,139 were in Group-1 and 43 were in Group-2. The mean age of the patients was 43.9±10.6 years for Group-1 and 67.8±2.1 years for Group-2(p=0.001).The mean stone size in Group-1 and Group-2 was 899±292 and 1,008±208 mm2, respectively(p=0.736). When we evaluated the postoperative results, we observed that the amount of hemoglobin drop was statistically significantly higher in Group-1(p=0.001). However, the need for blood transfusion was higher in Group-2 than in Group-1(18.6% and 7.2%, respectively). The stone-free rate was 54.7% in Group-1 and 67.4% in Group-2(p=0.139). According to the evaluation of the overall complication rates,34.5% of the patients in Group-1 and 46.5% of those in Group-2 developed complications(p=0.206). When we examined the subgroups of complications according to the Clavien scoring system, the rate of minor complications was found to be 22.3% in Group-1 and 41.9% in Group-2,and the difference was statistically significant(p=0.012). The major complication rates were determined as 4.7% and 12.2% for Group-1 and Group-2,respectively(p=0.155). The number of patients with Clavien grade-2 complications was statistically higher in the elderly patient group(p=0.019). Conclusion: PCNL can be used as an effective and safe treatment method in the treatment of complex stones in elderly patients

Objective: To evaluate the effect of age on the success and complications of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in staghorn renal stones. Materials and Methods: The files of 182 patients who underwent single-access PCNL for staghorn renal stones between 2012 and 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups according to their age: those aged<65 years were defined as Group-1 and those aged≥65 years as Group-2. The demographic characteristics and perioperative and postoperative results were compared between the two groups. Results: Of the patients with staghorn renal stones,139 were in Group-1 and 43 were in Group-2. The mean age of the patients was 43.9±10.6 years for Group-1 and 67.8±2.1 years for Group-2(p=0.001). The amount of hemoglobin drop was statistically significantly higher in Group-1 (p=0.001). However, blood transfusion rate was higher in Group-2 than in Group-1 (18.6% and 7.2%, respectively). The stone-free rate was 54.7% in Group-1 and 67.4% in Group-2(p=0.139). According to the evaluation of the overall complication rates,34.5% of the patients in Group-1 and 46.5% of those in Group-2 developed complications(p=0.206). According to the Clavien scoring system, the rate of minor complications was found to be 22.3% in Group-1 and 41.9% in Group-2,and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.012). The major complication rates were determined as 4.7% and 12.2% for Group-1 and Group-2, respectively (p=0.155). The number of patients with Clavien grade-2 complications was statistically higher in the elderly patient group (p=0.019). Conclusions: PCNL can be used as an effective and safe treatment method in the treatment of complex stones in elderly patients.

Background: Preoperative bladder urine culture (PBUC) analysis has become a standard application before any stone surgery. When growth is detected in PBUC, it is contraindicated to perform flexible ureterorenoscopy (f-URS). The results of the PBUC susceptibility test do not correlate well with those of the renal pelvic urine culture (RPUC) analysis. Previous studies have demonstrated the positivity of RPUC as an important marker for the development of infections after endoscopic operations. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the consistency between PBUC and RPUC and to identify preoperative markers associated with a positive RPUC. Methods: Data from 129 patients who underwent f-URS on renal and proximal ureteral stones in two centers between 2015 and 2020 were prospectively recorded in a database and retrospectively analyzed. PBUC was obtained from all the patients preoperatively, and RPUC was taken at the beginning of the f-URS operation. The results of the two cultures were compared. Results: There was growth in PBUC in 25 (19.4%) patients and RPUC in 35 (27.1%) patients. Possible predictive markers in predicting a positive RPUC were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Preoperative urine density at the renal pelvis [odds ratio (OR): 0.848, p<0.001],grade≥2 hydronephrosis (OR:18.970,p=0.001), and lower calyceal stone localization (OR:0.033,p=0.017) were determined as independent predictive factors for a positive RPUC. The ability of pelvis urine density to predict positive RPUC positivity was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic analysis, in which the area under the curve value was determined to be 0.858 (0.780-0.936). The cut-off value of pelvis urine density in the prediction of RPUC positivity was 4.5, at which it had 80% sensitivity and 77.7% specificity. Conclusions: PBUC may not represent true colonization. Although bladder urine culture is negative before the operation, patients with preoperative hydronephrosis and low pelvis urine density may have RPUC growth.

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to compare the outcomes and complication rates of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) in geriatric patients according to Charlson comorbidity index (CCI). Materials and Methods: Between April 2011 and January 2020, patients who underwent PCNL and RIRS for renal stone between 10 and 30 mm in geriatric patients were retrospectively evaluated. All patients’ Pre-surgery comorbidities were recorded and the CCI was calculated. The two groups’ perioperative values, stone free rates and complication rates were compared. Postoperative complications were noted according to the Clavien scoring system. Results: There were 89 and 72 patients in the PCNL and RIRS group, respectively. The median age was 67 years in both of groups (p=0.192). The stone size were 22.2 ± 3.5 and 19.9 ± 7.1 in the PCNL and RIRS group, respec¬tively ( p = 0.082). CCI scores were similar in both groups (p=0.098). Stone free and complication rates were significantly higher in PCNL group (p = 0.021, p = 0.034). Also we found that overall complication and major complication rates were statistically significant difference with especially Charlson comorbidity index score ≥2 in PCNL group (p = 0,016, p = 0,029). According to correlation analysis of intraoperative and postoperative results with Charlson comorbidity index, there was positive correlation between total complication with PCNL and RIRS group, respectively (p < 0,001, p = 0.024). In addition, there was positive correlation between lenght of hospital stay with PCNL and RIRS group, respectively (p = 0,007, p < 0,001). Also there was positive correlation between blood transfusion requirement with PCNL group (p=0,009). Conclusion: Despite there was higher stone clearence in PCNL, the complication rates were higher compared to RIRS. So RIRS might be a safe alternative treatment method to PCNL in older patients with a high CCI score.