Percutaneous nephrostomy for stone removal.

Percutaneous nephrostomy placement was performed in 700 patients as the initial procedure in renal or ureteral calculus removal. The ease or complexity of the subsequent calculus removal procedure is directly dependent on precise nephrostomy placement. The most important technical factors in nephrostomy placement for calculus removal are selection of the nephrostomy track course, the track entry site into the renal collecting systems, intrarenal catheter and guidewire manipulations, and the final catheter positioning across the ureteropelvic junction and down the ureter.