Percutaneous nephrolithotomy: extraction of renal and ureteral calculi from 100 patients.

A percutaneous nephrostomy tract was used as a conduit to the kidney and ureter for extraction of 149 calculi in 100 patients. A variety of grasping and fragmentation techniques under fluoroscopic and endoscopic control were used to extract calculi in 88 per cent of the patients. With experience, operator efficiency and rate of stone extraction increased from 76 per cent early in the series to 91 per cent in the most recent patients, and the incidence of complications decreased from 17 to 5 per cent. Percutaneous removal of upper tract urinary calculi appears to be an appropriate alternative to an open operation in most patients with symptomatic urolithiasis.