The Urological Association of Asia, consisting of 25 member associations and one affiliated member since its foundation in 1990, has planned to develop Asian guidelines for all urological fields. The field of stone diseases is the third of its guideline projects. Because of the different climates, and social, economic and ethnic environments, the clinical practice for urinary stone diseases widely varies among the Asian countries. The committee members of the Urological Association of Asia on the clinical guidelines for urinary stone disease carried out a surveillance study to better understand the diversity of the treatment strategy among different regions and subsequent systematic literature review through PubMed and MEDLINE database between 1966 and 2017. Levels of evidence and grades of recommendation for each management were decided according to the relevant strategy. Each clinical question and answer were thoroughly reviewed and discussed by all committee members and their colleagues, with suggestions from expert representatives of the American Urological Association and European Association of Urology. However, we focused on the pragmatic care of patients and our own evidence throughout Asia, which included recent surgical trends, such as miniaturized percutaneous nephrolithotomy and endoscopic combined intrarenal surgery. This guideline covers all fields of stone diseases, from etiology to recurrence prevention. Here, we present a short summary of the first version of the guideline – consisting 43 clinical questions – and overview its key practical issues.
Objective
To present a novel miniature endoscopic system designed to improve the safety and efficacy of percutaneous nephrolithotomy, named the ‘super‐mini percutaneous nephrolithotomy’ (SMP).
Patients and Methods
The endoscopic system consists of a 7‐F nephroscope with enhanced irrigation and a modified 10–14 F access sheath with a suction‐evacuation function. This system was tested in patients with renal stones of <2.5 cm, in a multicentre prospective non‐randomised clinical trial. In all, 146 patients were accrued in 14 centres. Nephrostomy tract dilatation was carried out to 10–14 F. The lithotripsy was performed using either a Holmium laser or pneumatic lithotripter. A nephrostomy tube or JJ stent was placed only if clinically indicated.
Results
SMP was completed successfully in 141 of 146 patients. Five patients required conversion to larger nephrostomy tracts. The mean (sd) stone size was 2.2 (0.6) cm and the mean operative duration was 45.6 min. The initial stone‐free rate (SFR) was 90.1%. The SFR at the 3‐month follow‐up was 95.8%. Three patients required auxiliary procedures for residual stones. Complications occurred in 12.8% of the patients, all of which were Clavien grade ≤II and no transfusions were needed. In all, 72.3% of the patients did not require any kind of catheter, while 19.8% had JJ stents and 5.7% had nephrostomy tubes placed. The mean hospital stay was 2.1 days.
Conclusions
SMP is a safe and effective treatment for renal stones of <2.5 cm. SMP may be particularly suitable for patients with lower pole stones and stones that ae not amenable to retrograde intrarenal surgery.
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