title: Complications in percutaneous nephrolithotomy.
abstract: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is generally considered a safe technique offering the highest stone-free rates after the first treatment as compared to the other minimal invasive lithotripsy techniques. Still, serious complications although rare should be expected following this percutaneous procedure. In this work, the most common and important complications associated with PCNL are being reviewed focusing on the perioperative risk factors, current management, and preventing measures that need to be taken to reduce their incidence. In addition, complication reporting is being criticized given the absence of a universal consensus on PCNL complications description. Complications such as perioperative bleeding, urine leak from nephrocutaneous fistula, pelvicalyceal system injury, and pain are individually graded as complications by various authors and are responsible for a significant variation in the reported overall PCNL complication rate, rendering comparison of morbidity between studies almost impossible. Due to the latter, a universally accepted grading system specialized for the assessment of PCNL-related complications and standardized for each variation of PCNL technique is deemed necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of Patras, Patras, Greece.
authors.forename: Iason
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kyriazis
authors.forename: Vasilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Panagopoulos
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kallidonis
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Özsoy
authors.forename: Marinos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vasilas
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liatsikos
mesh_terms: D017577:Cutaneous Fistula / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007669:Kidney Calculi / Q000601:surgery*; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D007682:Kidney Pelvis / Q000293:injuries; D009403:Nephrostomy, Percutaneous; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D018805:Sepsis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index