A Prospective Comparison of Fluoroscopic, Sonographic or Combined Approach for Renal Access in Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy

Purpose: The aim of this present study is to compare the result of fluoroscopy, ultrasonography (US) and US combined with fluoroscopy in the guidance of minimally invasive percutaneous nephrolithotomy (MPCNL). Methods: The investigators will enroll 450 patients who are candidates for MPCNL in our study. By simple random sampling technique, patients will be assigned to three 150-patient groups (group 1, US-guided MPCNL, group 2, fluoroscopy-guided MPCNL and group 3, US combined with fluoroscopy-guided MPCNL). In addition to approaches in guidance of MPCNL, the rest of the procedure is the same in all three groups.The end point of the study is the comparison of outcome of procedure including stone free rate, transfusion rate, operation time, access time, length of stay and complications.